Tempo Trigger
by Nanaki
Summary: Sequel to Mount Woe. After another unplanned hiatus, Chapter 62 has finally arrived. Lion, Tempo, Schala, and Silva take the upgraded Skyshround Ranger to 70 million B.C. to confront Levasos, and things start to go wrong pretty much right away...
1. Prologue and 1: Awakenings

(Nanaki says: Welcome everyone, to Tempo Trigger! This story is the direct sequel to the Origin and Aftermath of Mouth Woe, and it's now been ten years since it first went up at Icy's site, so it's high time I posted it here. However, unlike the other "ten years later" postings of my old stories that I've been doing lately, THIS story isn't finished yet. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not even halfway there yet. It's kind of like my "Silmarillion". There are times where I'm a lot more prolific with it than others, but I'm always working on it to some extent. Schala is my muse, after all, and I'll never give up writing her story, no matter what. But enough of my babbling for now. On to the story!)

**Tempo Trigger **

**Prologue **

By Nanaki

Timeless

Vigo was as close as a cloud of floating green mist in the afterlife of the heroes of the ages could get to being bored. He had sent Zeal away for the moment, in case Rofellos dropped by unexpectedly. If he had a body, he would have been leaning back in a chair, snacking on something. He never understood how time flowed here, if time existed here at all. Millions of years could go by in the blink of an eye when it suited them, and then those years could reverse even farther, carrying them deep into the past. And then, there were times like now, where all there was to do was wait for the action to start. Gren, Arthur, and all the other heroes from his sector were out on assignment, and who knew when they'd be back. Word had it that Rofellos himself was on assignment too, although this may have been his lifetime off. But he had been all over this before. He had been over everything before, actually. He was bored.

Then, another cloud of swirling mist appeared next to him. But the odd thing was, this cloud had an odd orange tinge to the swirling green. Vigo quickly backed away from the unexpected guest. 'You! What do you want?'

'I want to help Schala, Lord Vigo. I want to make amends for what I did to her. Please.'

'Forget it Sephiroth! You blew it big time on your last assignment!'

The orange-green mist swirled in a submissive pattern. 'Yes sir. I thought I was ready to take on a Class A. Obviously, I was not.'

Vigo sighed. 'I really don't care that much. But Rofellos was quite clear. He said, and here I quote, "Why the hell did I let someone as inexperienced as him go after a Class A?! God, what a mess! He's not going anywhere else for a while." We had to give Aerith and Cloud a vacation lifetime after that one, because of you!'

'I know. That's why I want to help them. Besides, from what I saw of their so called vacation, they didn't have much rest.'

'True enough. I thought they would be able to handle a Class C easily. But they were a bit too young when the crisis came, and I think their long time apart drained their energies partially. They were designed to function as a set, and Cloud lived to be 103, I think. I wasn't here when it happened.'

'Why would that affect their powers in a timeless zone like this?'

'You'd have to ask Rofellos that one. I have no clue.' Vigo sighed again. 'Look Sephiroth, I understand where you're coming from. But I'm about to hit the one thousand mark, and I don't want to blow my chances by pissing off Rofellos now. I'm not going to give you permission.'

Sephiroth's mist began to swirl in an agitated manner. 'It's not my fault my host body was implanted with Lavoid cells before it was even born!!'

'Yeah, yeah. Tell it to Rofellos.' Vigo's mist suddenly swirled faster. 'Schala's about to land! I've wasted enough time with you!'

'Fine then, but I'm helping out, whether you like it or not!'

'Good luck finding a hero that'll give you permission!' Vigo laughed. 'Ah now, finally time for the show to begin...'

* * *

Schala dimly felt herself stirring from sleep. It felt like ages had passed since she had last been awake. As she became more aware of things, she realized that it had been ages, most likely. Probably a great many ages. She opened her eyes, and saw the beautiful light of a planet in daytime in front of her. Then, her eyes widened. Partially obscuring her view was the reason she was here, and MUCH bigger than she remembered it. 'So, I finally caught up with you!' She grinned sadistically. 'You won't get away!!' At a slight mental command, her shield instantly picked up speed, closing the gap between herself and the Lavoid.

'Oh no you don't!' She was surprised to hear it instantly reply. 'Maybe I'm still young enough that you can hurt me, but you have to catch me first!' The Lavoid picked up speed too, and a red glow surrounded them both as they began to enter the planet's atmosphere.

'I'll catch you all right!' She gritted her teeth as the shield began to shake. In a surprisingly short amount of time, they were actually in the atmosphere. Schala travelled straight downward, hoping to reach the surface before the Lavoid, but it pulled the same trick.

'I'm a Class B, human!' It yelled at her. 'You'll quickly learn that I'm not to be messed with!' The Lavoid's shell began to spin quickly in midair. Schala could only watch helplessly as it impacted on the surface, the spinning motion helping it to burrow into the ground unbelievably fast. But that was still not as fast as Schala was approaching.

'Hold that pose now. You're going down! Star magic-'

'In your dreams human!' Then, the Lavoid disappeared from sight as lava erupted from the ground, covering it completely. Schala dived in after it, but the lava ate away at her shield so fast that she quickly stopped and turned back. She doubted that even the Nooze would be able to save her from that intense heat.

Her shield came to rest at the base of the crater the Lavoid had made. "I failed again." She whispered to herself. "What can I do now? There's no way I can get to him..." The shield glinted dully in the sunlight, and she sighed heavily. "I guess it's back to suspended animation for me. But how will I wake up the next time?" Then, she angrily kicked the side of the shield. "Aw hell, like it matters! I'll wake up when he destroys this world!" Then she snapped her fingers, and the shield solidified inside. She instantly fell back into a state of dreamless sleep, not breathing, her heart not beating. Not like it ever did anyway.

* * *

The sleep wasn't dreamless for long. At least, it didn't seem like much time had passed. Schala suddenly found herself in the middle of a lush, green forest. Ahead of her, the sun was either rising or setting. She couldn't tell. But then, her eyes widened as she noticed a very familiar form leaning up against a tree. "Greven!"

He remained silent for a second, then stood up and looked in her general direction. "It's been a while Schala. I hope you're feeling all right. Well enough to take on a Lavoid anyway."

"Greven, this is-" But he didn't wait for her to finish.

"I hope you realize you're a wild card here. You should really be dead, like me. But the heroes have allowed you to remain in this form. I'm going to be one step ahead of you as a result. Now, pardon me for doing this, but I owe you one." With that, he turned and ran toward the sun.

"Wait a minute!" Schala cried. "What is all this? What's going on? Come back here and explain!" She started to run too, but for some reason it felt like she was running in slow motion. Looking down, she saw that her feet were moving, but she wasn't going anywhere. Greven got further and further away until the sun swallowed him up. "Greven!!"

"He can't hear you, you know. This is a prerecorded message. He's already been reborn." Schala whirled around to find a man with extremely long white hair standing behind her, an extremely long sword slung on his back.

"Who are you?" She quickly demanded.

"I was supposed to be a hero. But someone screwed up." He said sadly.

"I didn't ask what you were supposed to be!" Schala yelled, suddenly feeling angry. "I asked who you were!"

"I guess I'm nobody special." He shrugged. "Just a one winged angel."

Schala grimaced, taking that to be some kind of riddle. "In other words, not effective?"

The man smiled. "Yes, that's pretty accurate. A one winged angel isn't effective." He laughed a little, as if he had just realized it.

"Anyway, why are you here?" She kept a fair distance from him.

"It's pretty simple, actually. I want to help you take down that Lavoid."

Schala began to smile. "Well why didn't you say so? Of course! Why would you even need my permission for that?"

He remained silent for a moment, then frowned a little. "Because, once before, well, technically, I killed you."

"Oh." Her smile vanished for a minute, then appeared again. "Who the hell cares?! My own mother killed me! I don't care!"

"You mean it?" He began to smile now.

"Sure! Go right ahead."

He bowed to her. "Thank you very much, Lady El." He smiled at the confused look on her face. "You'll understand, far in the future. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a little time travelling to do."

"Wait! What's your name, anyway?"

"It doesn't matter. I'll be someone else the next time you see me, anyway. Goodbye Lady, and see you soon." With that, he vanished from the forest.

.

Then, the forest vanished too. Now it seemed like she was underwater. In the distance, she saw Greven again, dimly. Whether he was drifting away from her, or she was drifting away from him, she couldn't tell, but they were getting farther and farther apart. "Stop!" She shouted, finding that it didn't seem that she was underwater after all. "I've had enough of this! I want to be with him!" She was extremely surprised to see whatever force had been acting upon her comply. She drifted closer to him until he was right in front of her. "What is going on here?!" She demanded of him. But he made no move to answer right away. 'Must be another prerecorded message.' She thought bitterly.

Then, he began to stir. "Hello again Schala. By now, I'm sure you're tired of all this talk about the heroes of the ages, and all these confusing dreams and insinuations. Well, that's all about to end. Are you ready to take on that Lavoid?"

"Of course! I've been ready!" She shouted at him.

"Well, I sure hope you said yes," he broke into a grin, "because here we go!" With that, he reached up with his hand, and placed it on her forehead. Then, an immensely bright blue light flashed in front of her eyes, and she was waking up...

.

"Don't worry about it."

"I can't help it..."

"Then, why don't you REALLY worry about it?" - Aerith Gainsborough and Cloud Strife, _Final Fantasy VII_

**.**

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 1: ****Awakenings**

By Nanaki

1995 A.D.

The rain continued to pour down, even though the sky lightened. The water poured down his face, half blinding him, but he didn't care. The coffin was in front of him again. After countless times, when he had thought he was done with this for good, the coffin was in front of him.

'God, not this again.' As the people gathered closer to the grave wept to each other, and the coffin began to be lowered into the ground, he remained stoic. He could handle it now, he had seen it replayed in his dreams so many times. At least, that's what he told himself. 'Why can't it be an open casket funeral?' He had demanded.

'The body's pretty messed up, kid. Whoever killed her did a damn fine job, and it looks like they took a while too.'

'Even her face? I just want to see her one last time, if only to say goodbye.'

'Sorry kid. The family requested it this way. Her face only has a couple bruises, and one cut, but it looks like she was strangled, and had her throat slashed.'

He had clenched his fist, yet again. 'Have the police seen all this? Was there any evidence of sexual assault?'

'Yeah, they took a good long look. There may have been evidence, but like I said, the body was really messed up. I mean, everywhere. Someone was practicing their carving skills.'

'Is there any clue who did this?'

'Not so far. Any finger prints were washed away by all the blood. But the police are on it.'

'But there's no need.' He blinked now as the rain dripped in his eyes. 'I know who it was. Even if there's no evidence, I know who it was.' Then, his eyes widened as the object of his hatred actually appeared, walking slowly toward the still open grave. Shaking off his amazement, he ran over to the grave. "How dare you actually show up here?!" He roared at the top of his lungs.

"Such theatrics." The man scoffed. "She was my friend too."

"You killed her!!" He roared in the other man's face. "And I'm pretty damn sure you raped her before, and maybe afterward too. How dare you show up here?! Isn't it enough that you took her away from me?"

"That wasn't why." He looked up at the sky, oblivious to the pouring rain. "You need to forget about me. You've got bigger fish to fry."

"I don't think so. And even if I do, I swear I'll kill you someday, Garin!"

"Not too damn likely. Forget about it. Forget about her. You've dwelled far too long on this. It's unbecoming for one like you." Then, the scene faded to black.

'I'll never forget Rena, and especially not you!!' He shouted. To what, he didn't know.

Then, a dim light lit up his subconcious, as if coming from a distant fire. Something large came into view. It seemed like he was flying over a dim fire late at night, but he realized that wasn't it. A huge circular mound sat over a bed of lava. He could clearly see as he drew closer. There were gigantic spikes sticking up everywhere out of the circular object, and there were small spikes sticking out of those. Suddenly, a five pronged pod on the front of the object opened wide, casting an eerie blue glow on the area. Combined with the red of the lava, an eerie purple light flooded the room. 'So, more heroic telepathy at work.' A scornful voice filled his head. 'It doesn't matter. Make my presence known to all the heroes you want. I can never be defeated, now that I am grown, and strong. I will destroy all those who oppose me.' Then, the blue light grew much stronger, and the pod emitted a horrible noise. Nothing human could ever duplicate the sound. It eventually tapered off, and ended in a burbling noise, as if someone's throat were being cut.

.

He blinked his sleep filled eyes as sunlight filled the room. "Get up Tempo!" His dad shouted at him. "Or else you're going to be late for Soultech training!"

"I should be done training." Tempo complained as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. "I swear the council is holding me back in favor of their own relatives."

"They're holding you back because they believe you need more training!" His father reprimanded him. "Besides, today's the day for promotions. We'll see if you're ready yet."

"I forgot about that." Tempo got out of bed, then rooted through his dresser for his Soultech uniform. A long, thick, short sleeved green shirt that really could have been a robe on a short person, thick black pants, and heavy brown boots. He started to get dressed as his dad left the room. 'What kind of dream was that?' He wondered to himself. 'Certainly a new twist on an old nightmare.' He reached up on the wall for his weapon, what the Soultech academy termed a "training mace." It was a solid metal ball on the end of a short staff, but without any spikes. 'I swear Rena, when they let me have a real one of these, I'll kill Garin for you. And for me too, to be honest.' As a secondary precaution, he also pulled out a whip and wrapped it into his belt, next to the mace. He hurried downstairs and ate a bowl of cereal without even stopping to see what kind it was. Then he got up and made for the door.

"I want you back before midnight tonight!" His dad shouted.

"I'll see what I can do." Tempo responded dryly, then went outside before his dad could say anything else. He jogged down the hill his house was on, toward the Soultech academy of Locorn city, barely visible through the trees in the distance. He was about halfway there when a hand suddenly pounded him on the back.

"Tempo, my man! Where have you been?" Tempo whirled around to find his best friend, Sowell, standing behind him. "The band's been missing you at practice. It's hard to keep the beat without our drummer, you know?"

"Yeah, well, I've been busy lately."

"Working out because you knew promotions were coming up?"

"You know me too well."

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but maybe I better so you don't have to go in there today. They gave the squireship to Garin. You're still a page, for now."

"What the hell?!" Tempo burst out. "I could beat Garin easily! He may be better with a weapon than me, but if we ever fought each other with our powers, I'd kick his ass so hard!..."

"You probably would." Sowell nodded. "Look, they just gave it to him because he's Lord Nagar's son. Everyone knows it. Besides, you should save your powers for someone worth the trouble."

'Oh, he's worth the trouble.' Tempo thought to himself, but said nothing out loud. He hadn't brought up his suspicions about Rena's death to anyone else, not even Sowell.

"Look, there's plenty of other councilor's sons in your class. Maybe you should be looking for another job."

"I don't really want to..." Tempo frowned.

"What? Just because your father used to be a Soultech commander?"

"No, because of my mother..." He continued to frown.

"Oh yeah. Sorry man. I thought your primary moping was over Rena now. Oops!" He looked embarrassed as he realized what he had said.

"No, now my 'primary moping,' as you call it, is about them both." They both remained silent for a minute. "So what kind of other job are you talking about?"

"The mine's looking for new workers. Some of it's part time. I think you could handle it."

"I don't ever wanna work in that place, or any place like it, without getting to see what it's really like in there before I sign up."

"Easy. Sneak in and take a look around while they're on break."

"You gotta be kidding me."

"Why not? Besides, you don't want to go in to Soultech when Garin will be overly full of himself, do you?"

"I suppose I've got nothing to lose."

"Great! I've got to get to work now. And show up at practice tonight all right? We can't play at Locorn high school during halftime Saturday if you're not there."

"I'll see what I can do." Tempo grinned.

"Sheeyah, right! Show up, okay?" Then, he ran off up the hill. Tempo slowly began to head toward the mine, but continued to circle close to the academy anyway.

"Hey Tempo!" Someone called.

'Urgh! What does everbody want this morning?' He demanded of himself, before turning around. "Oh, Silva! Good morning."

"I'm afraid it's not so good." The girl responded. She was dressed in jeans and a short blue shirt, her long blonde hair flowing over her shoulders. "Garin got the promotion."

"I heard." He grimaced. "I'm thinking of going over to the mine and checking out the scene there." She laughed a little. "What? You don't think I could handle it?"

"No, not really." Silva's smile vanished. "I hate to say it, but you haven't been able to handle much since my sister died."

"How can I, when I know her killer is laughing at me, every day?!" He suddenly grew angry.

"You think it doesn't bother me too? I think about her every day, but there was never any evidence to indicate who it was. Just an example of human cruelty."

"I can handle mine work." He quickly changed the subject. "Sorry about the outburst, but you know how..."

"I know. But we all need to move on. And staying on that subject, are you still taking me out Saturday night?"

"I suppose." He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "But you know I need to be at the school to set up with the rest of the band fairly early, right?"

"Sure. That's all right. I hope you actually show up. So you're serious about the mine?"

"I didn't think so, but I suppose."

"Can I go over there with you?"

"I don't see why not, although you might miss lunch..." 'But that's never been a problem for you.' He grimaced to himself. They made their way south to the mine entrance. Tempo lounged around the entrance for a while, making small talk until the miners started coming out for their lunch break. He grabbed Silva and ducked behind one of the many boulders near the entrance.

"You don't exactly have permission for this, do you?" Silva whispered.

"One might say that." He grinned at her. "Shh!" He wanted to hear what the miners were saying. He wasn't disappointed, as he could hear them fairly clearly.

"I tell ya Earl, I struck somethin' weird down at the bottom of the east shaft. I dunno what the hell it is. Looked kinda blue."

"Relax, Bill. We'll check it out after lunch. Don' worry about it."

After the last of them headed off, Tempo ran into the entrance, Silva following close behind. He hadn't gone very far inside, when the tunnel seemed to end suddenly. "Damn it! Let my eyes adjust here..."

"You're in an elevator shaft." Silva told him, stifling a gigle.

"Oh. Cool. Activate it and hop inside."

"You're really going all the way down there?" She was surprised.

"Of course? How else can I get an accurate idea of the conditions?"

"You could ask the miners, you know."

"Ah yes, but that would be too simple." He grinned again.

"Then I'll stay up here, if it's all the same to you. I'm a bit claustrophobic."

"Suit yourself." Tempo finally found a lever as his eyes adjusted, and he yanked it downward. "See you soon." The elevator then dropped down the shaft at a surprising pace, before finally stopping to rest in a very dimly lit area. 'Hmm... I'm not fond of the lack of light.' He grimaced. He found a pick axe resting next to some complicated drilling equipment, and hefted it up. 'I could handle this.' He swung it around a few times. 'Let's see what's down here.' He walked further down the tunnel, and noticed that there were even fewer lights.

He turned a corner far down the line, and suddenly came to a stop. He was up against a dead end. 'Guess that's the end of that. Time to be heading back up anyw... Hello! What have we here?' He spotted a dim blue glow in the cave wall. He reached up and touched the small, smooth area, and it seemed to brighten a little at his touch. 'This is weird! I have to see what it is. Guess it's time to really test out this thing.' He swung the pick axe again, trying to avoid hitting the odd substance. He accidentally hit it dead on once, but it seemed impervious to the swing. He eventually gave up that activity when he had uncovered about five feet veritcally and three feet horizontally, and there was still no end in sight. 'Okay... So what is this thing?' He demanded of himself, hitting it with the axe again. Nothing happened. 'Sheesh. Maybe I wouldn't be able to do this all day after all.' He leaned back against the odd blue surface.

Suddenly, a brilliant blue glow lit up the mine. "Gaah!" He jumped forward, and the glow stopped. "What the...? It's touch activated?" He stepped back for a second. 'I'm not sure I should be messing with this.' He looked at the palm of his hand for a second. 'Aw, what the hell? Why not? Here we go!' Then he reached out again, and laid his palm flat on the surface. He winced and closed his eyes as the blinding blue glow filled the tunnel again. It finally seemed to dim, after nearly blinding him even with his eyes closed. As he opened his eyes, he noticed not only that most of the odd substance had melted away, but that his palm was now resting on another outstretched hand. He jumped back in surprise as a young woman fell forward out of the odd structure, groaning. "Whoah! Hey, um... Are you all right?" 'What in the hell is going on here?!' He kneeled down to check on her. A blue glow continued to come from the broken, crystal like substance, providing ample light. He started to feel for a pulse, but the woman pulled her arm away from him.

"Don't bother..." She whispered in a hoarse voice. "I'll be fine in a minute. Thanks for getting me out of there, whoever you are."

"My name's Tempo." He stood up, then reached his arms down to help her up as well.

She took his hands, almost as if she was bored. "I suppose it's nice to meet you..." Then she stopped, and blinked suddenly, as if she was seeing something that wasn't there. "Did you say Tempo?"

He nodded as he helped her to her feet. "That's right. Something the matter?"

An incredibly happy look crossed her face, but she seemed to supress it. "No. Nothing's wrong. My name is Schala of... Well, just call me Schala."

"All right Schala. What exactly happened to you? Or should I even be asking?"

"I don't think you should, and you wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway."

"Very well. Whatever is going on here, we should get out of this place."

"I agree." Schala took a step forward, then collapsed again.

"Whoah! I'm sorry, do you need any help?" He helped her back up, then put her arm around his shoulders, supporting her.

"I'm fine, really." She protested, but he paid no attention. "Okay..." She smiled a little.

They walked like that for a way, until they arrived at where Tempo thought the elevator should be. "What the...? There should be an elevator here." He squinted in the darkness. "I can barely see. Are the lights going out back there?"

"Back where?" Schala was puzzled.

"What do you mean? I..." Tempo's voice trailed off as he turned around. His nose was just inches from solid rock. There was no evidence that a tunnel had ever been behind him. "I must be hallucinating." He shook his head, very confused. Turning to face forward again, he saw there was a vertical shaft leading upward in front of him, but no elevator was inside. "Don't tell me we're stuck down here!"

"Hardly." Schala grinned, then pulled the pendant out of her robes. It was glowing a very dim blue. "Whoah. This thing's really running low, but it should have enough power to get us out of here." Schala closed her eyes, then they were suddenly floating up through the shaft at a rapid pace. Tempo decided that it would be best not to say anything. He wouldn't know where to begin anyway. Looking down, he saw that the rock was following them up the shaft. When they eventually reached the top, there was no evidence that it had ever been there.

"Finally! I see daylight up ahead." Tempo raced for the exit, Schala following slowly behind. Just as he reached the entrance, there was another blinding flash of blue, and they were suddenly standing side by side next to a solid hillside. The mine had vanished. But that was the least of Tempo's worries. "I don't think we're in Locorn anymore..."

.

"You're uneasy... But happy? Because I'm here? I'm sorry... I don't understand." - Aerith Gainsborough, _Final Fantasy VII_

(Nanaki's note: This has absolutely nothing to do with the story, but being that today is August 2nd, I just want to give a quick shout-out here to wish IcyBrian a happy 26th birthday! It's more than fair to say that this story would not exist without him, in several ways. Singing: And many more, on channel four! And Scooby Doo, on channel two! And Frankenstein, on channel nine! And something funny, on channel twenty! And something dirty, on channel thirty... All right, I'll shut up now.)


	2. Viashino Sand Stalker

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 2: ****Viashino Sand Stalker**

By Nanaki

Previously Unencountered Time

"I say again, what the hell is going on here?" Tempo scratched his head. "This place looks like Locorn valley, but something is different..."

"Your guess is as good as mine. Better, most likely." Schala shrugged. "Before you woke me up, a man... mentioned something about time travel. That could be what happened here."

"Time travel? If that's true, which I don't doubt with everything I've seen, then we are still in Locorn, in a way. The trees are a lot thicker, and..." Tempo trailed off as he heard a muffled scream. "What happened to Silva?!" He quickly glanced around.

"There's something moving in the trees over there." Schala pointed to the northwest. "Who's Silva?"

"She's my girlfriend, I suppose." Tempo pulled out his whip. "Do you know how to use a whip?"

'Girlfriend?' Schala was crestfallen. 'Damn it!' "I don't need a whip." She smiled thinly, then reached behind her back. The thin smile quickly turned into a frown. "The Masamune! It's gone! Damn it again!" She kicked the ground, then looked up at Tempo dejectedly. "You don't have a dagger on you, do you?"

"Sorry. Let's get going, if you feel up to it." He tossed the whip to her.

"All right." Schala ran after him as he charged toward the trees at a surprising pace. But whatever was in the trees soon noticed and ran out to meet them. They both gasped as their adversaries turned out to be a group of humanoid lizards, about seven feet tall. She hesitated for a second, but then continued to charge forward. Tempo hesitated a moment longer, but plunged in after seeing her continue on. Schala snapped the whip at the nearest one, but it didn't seem to do much good. Tempo jumped up and gave it a good whack on the head with his mace, but the lizard hardly seemed affected. 'Forget this!' Schala thought. 'Star magic, now!' She stretched her hands out, but nothing happened. 'Oh come on!' She forced herself to calm down as Tempo and the lizard continued to swipe at each other. Other lizards were fast approaching, although she could see they were much slighter in build than the one Tempo was facing off with. That probably meant it was the leader. 'Maybe I have to consciously recall the words. I am a little rusty. All right, star magic, shier... Shier what?' She stretched her arms out again, but still nothing happened. 'I don't believe this! Why can't I remember?' Tempo cried out in surprise as the lizard clocked him on the side of the head, knocking him to the ground.

"Uh, a little help here Schala?" He groaned.

"Sorry, are you okay?" 'What happened to my powers?!'

"I suppose, but nothing ever hits back this hard in training!" Tempo sprang back to his feet, then jumped at the lizard, which remained in a fighting stance. He smashed the mace down hard on top of its skull. To their amazement, the lizard actually tilted its head back and laughed.

"Foolish peasant! You can never hope to defeat the elite guard of Moogoo!"

It was Tempo's turn to laugh. "The guard of anyone named 'Moogoo' can't be elite! Take this! Ah-rekka!" Tempo charged forward, swinging the mace in circles in midair. He drove it downward hard in a swing which the lizard managed to avoid. But, he quickly swung it around again and the mace smashed hard up into the creature's chin. It went flying through the air and impacted into two other lizards, sending up a cloud of dust. "I thought so." Tempo grinned.

"Great! Now can you manage to do that about twenty more times?" Schala groaned as more of the lizards surrounded them. Tempo tensed, ready to spring again. Their spirits sank as the lizard Tempo had waylaid slowly stood back up. It wiped off the blood trickling from its mouth with the back of a wickedly clawed hand and glared at them.

"A point for you human, but we are the obvious victors. Lay down your arms or we will be forced to harm you." Tempo and Schala again took a look at the number of lizards around them, and reluctantly threw down their weapons. The lizard looked back into the forest, and shouted. "Take the other human back to the castle fast! I don't want to have to tangle with any Soul Knights." Then it looked back at them. "On second thought, I think I'll hurt you anyway." All of the lizards charged forward.

"Oh shit!" Tempo stepped closer to Schala, trying to protect her. He really only had one choice now. It would cost him at least five days of his life in the long run, but that was a lot better than dying now. "Activating Soultech!!" He folded his arms across his chest, and a green glow surrounded both Schala and himself. It grew brighter every second. The lizards piled on top of them, but couldn't manage to do any harm.

"That kid's a Soul Knight!" The lizard Tempo had tangled with, who did indeed seem to be the leader, shouted. "Put him down fast, or we're all toast!"

"You're right about one thing." Tempo grinned. "You're all toast. Gale Storm!" At that shout, high winds roared across the valley, driving thousands of beams of blue energy. The beams slammed hard into the lizards, blowing them apart, while the green glow protected Tempo and Schala. As the winds died away, Tempo's grin faded fast as the leader and four other lizards popped up from underground, where they had evidently found refuge. He hadn't seen them leave, but now they were back. The leader charged forward just as their green shield faded. Schala managed to duck out of the way, but Tempo went flying through the air, the landing knocking him out.

'I've got to draw them away from him.' Schala quickly realized. "What's you're name?" She shouted at the leader. "I'm going to need something to carve on your tombstone."

"Barada." The lizard bared its sharp teeth. "Not that you'll live long enough to care." It bent down and picked up Tempo's mace, then charged at Schala so fast she had no time to dodge. Barada brought it down hard on her skull, and watched with satisfaction as her skull burst open, spilling her brains into the dirt. The body collapsed in a heap. "All too easy." Barada turned and tossed the mace away.

"Sir look!" One of his soldiers pointed excitedly. Barada whirled around to find an oozing black liquid quickly gathering up the pieces of Schala's brain and skull, and reassembling them with fair speed. When her compromised cranium competely reformed, she stirred, then quickly stood back up.

"You're going to have to do a lot better than that." Schala grinned. "I could do this all day. How many times can you afford to die?"

Barada seemed speechless. "You..." He pointed a trembling finger at her. "You reek of the touch of a Lavoid! You'll bring an end to yourself soon enough." He turned, then quickly walked away. "Come on troops. We must report this to Lord Moogoo at once."

Schala let them go, knowing she couldn't do much to them at the moment. She hurried back over to where Tempo was lying in the dirt. She slapped him on the face lightly. "Wake up, O soul I never travel without." 'At least, according to a freaky dream I had once, that's who you are.' She amended to herself.

"Huh?" He slowly began to stir. "They're gone?"

"For the moment. I guess they figured knocking us out was enough." Schala shrugged, not telling him the whole story.

"That's odd. They seemed geniunely afraid of people with Soultech powers. You'd think they would have finished me off, at least."

"Well that I can't explain." Schala shook her head, then took a good look around. "Is there any habitation close by? Preferably inhabited by humans?"

"If I remember my history lessons, which I don't, really," Tempo looked around as well, "the old Locorn castle should be a few miles beyond those trees." He pointed straight north.

"Sounds good to me." Schala turned and started walking, without a second look at the lizard bodies.

"You know, I get the feeling you've fought often before." Tempo began as he followed her through the trees.

"Not exactly often, but I know a thing or two about battle, yes. Something seems to have drained my powers though."

"Any idea what might have caused that? My powers were fine when I unleashed Soultech."

"I use straight magic, is the difference. I do have an idea about what caused it, but I don't think you'd believe me if I told you. And I really don't know where my sword might have gotten to."

"Wait a minute!" Tempo exclaimed. "Humans can't use magic!"

"We've just traveled through time, and you doubt the existence of magic? Please!" Schala turned to give him a quizzical look. Then her eyes became troubled. "Say, how is it that you speak my language anyway?" Then her eyes widened. "Forget that! How is it that you're even human?! I'm not surprised critters like those lizards were hanging around!"

"What ARE you talking about?!" Tempo demanded. "What's up with you anyway?"

"I'm not from this planet." She said succinctly. "I'm surprised to see humans here. And I'm very surprised that I can understand what you're saying."

"I don't know what to tell you, or whether or not to believe you." Tempo shrugged.

"After all the other weird stuff you've seen, it shouldn't be too hard to accept, right?" They both stopped talking as they left the cover of the trees and came into view of the castle. The mighty center of Locorn kingdom was composed of six towers that rose two hundred feet into the air, and a larger central keep that had to be at least three hundred feet. Surrounding those were walls that appeared to be fifty, seventy five, and one hundred feet high. There was a wide moat beyond the outer fifty foot wall. "What now?" Schala asked, slightly awed. The architecture was nowhere near as inspired as the Zeal Palace, but you just had to respect anything that big.

"I suggest we go inside." Tempo walked up to the moat, and they circled the castle until they came to the drawbridge, which was lowered. "They must be fairly confident." He observed offhand. He walked up to the closed portcullis more slowly, in case there were any bows trained on him. "Hello there!" He called up to the parapet.

"Who goes there?" A bored voice responded.

"We are weary travelers from very far away. We come as friends, and I know how to use the powers of the soul, in case that's a requirement to get in."

"Hold on a minute." The voice responded. In a few minutes, the two inner portcullises were raised, and Tempo could see a man waiting behind the outer one as it finally went up. He was dressed in silver armor, although a few things were missing from it, notably the helm, that indicated he wasn't going into battle at the moment. He had very short, but spikey, blonde hair.

"Greetings, travelers. I am Sir Leopold, Soul Knight of Locorn. Who might you be?"

'They sent a knight just to meet us? What's going on here?' Tempo wondered. "I am Tempo, a Soul Page, I think. This is my companion Schala. Another of us was captured by some large lizard creatures."

"Sounds like Barada's on the hunt again." Leopold frowned to himself. "Ah well, come inside the castle. No one has ever successfully penetrated its defenses. You'll be safe here." He turned and began to walk back through the main entrance.

"Pardon me sir." Tempo broke in. "But may I ask why a knight was sent to meet two lowly travelers?"

"We don't get many unknown people with soul powers around here." Leopold grinned a little. "I'm in charge of investigating any unusual circumstances around here, and believe me, I have a lot of questions to ask you. But I'm guessing that if you ran up against Barada, you'd like to rest first."

"Barada?" Tempo asked.

"What is he anyway?" Schala inquired.

"He's the leader of the Viashino around here. They seem to be in an alliance with Moogoo at the moment."

"And who's Moogoo?" Tempo asked.

"You'll find out soon enough, I'm sure." Leopold grimaced. "I'll have someone show you where the soldiers' barracks are. As for you lady, if you'll follow me, I'll have the servants prepare a guest room for you."

"Well well." Schala smiled. "Thank you sir." 'This kind of treatment could make a person wish their body was alive...'

* * *

Vigo: Huh? Oh Gren, you're back.

Gren: A little sooner than I would have liked, but yeah.

Vigo: I take it that Zeiram is toast again, for now.

Gren: Yes, again. I died from my injuries right after the fight though. That sucks.

Vigo: Any word on when Arthur's coming back?

Gren: Not any time in the near future. World War III's escalating, and England still needs him.

Vigo: Figures. Lousy Brits.

Gren: Anyway, what's been going on with Schala and Lord Elan?

Vigo: He's Tempo now, remember. Not too much yet, although they ran up against some creatures that bear a remarkable resemblance to Sraphites.

Gren: That's impossible! The Sraphites never went anywhere near that system.

Vigo: Maybe it was a long, long time ago. Legend says that the ancient invasion force fragmented after they destroyed Draconus. If some landed here and never left, that would explain it.

Gren: Replay the scene for me.

Vigo: All right.

Gren: Hmm... They seemed to be afraid of Schala when they found out her Nooze was Lavoid powered. Perhaps they've had contact with Sraphites, at least.

Vigo: But why would they be afraid of Lavoids?

Gren: Perhaps... Perhaps they actually want to make up for the mess created by the whole Lavoid project.

Vigo: I don't think Sraphites could possibly have that much feeling. It's a theory though. We'll have to keep an eye on these "Viashino..."

.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." - SemiSonic

(Nanaki's note: Remember, that quote was brand new when this chapter was written. On another note, I wanted to point out that the Viashino here are NOT meant to be a direct ripoff of the race from Magic: the Gathering. When I wrote this, the Viashino had just been featured on a few cards in the Mirage set, and were fairly obscure. Little did I know that they would be coming back in a BIG way in Urza's Saga, and the rest of the Urza block. Hence, the name was quickly changed to "Komodaera" in Chapter 11. Though my characters are similar in appearance to the "true" Viashino, they aren't the same race as Whip-Tongue, Corus, and the others from Dominaria. In my mind's eye, Barada looks more similar to Belselk from Wild ARMs than a real Viashino. Just wanted to clear that up.)


	3. Test of the Squire

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 3: ****Test Of The Squire**

By Nanaki

975 A.D.

"Rena, hurry it up! The game's going to start, the band's not going to have its drummer, and I'm going to be in a lot of trouble!" Tempo had cried as he ran across the grass, still wet with the rain.

"I'm sorry! I can't run in these heels!" She apologized, stumbling through the grass.

"Why'd you wear them anyway?" He complained. "I told you we weren't going anywhere fancy tonight."

"I wanted to make you happy, all right?"

"All right, all right. Sowell can play the drums in an emergency, but he can't really pick up the pace like me." Tempo slowed down to let her catch up to him.

"Oh crud!" Rena cursed.

"Oh, I just know I'm not going to like this, whatever it is." Tempo groaned, giving her a hard time.

"It's not that bad!" She scolded him. "But I left my purse back at the academy when we stopped by."

He sighed, then slowly turned around. "All right, let's go."

"No, that's all right. You go ahead to the game. I'll catch up with you."

"Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine! Garin stayed late to train anyway."

"That's supposed to reassure me?"

"You are so paranoid!" She had scolded him. "Just because you two don't get along. Besides, he's my friend."

"All right." 'Don't go alone.' "Go ahead." 'Because he'll kill you.' "I'll see you later." 'Goodbye forever... ...again.' His heart ached for her as he watched her go. He didn't usually relive this moment. He hadn't wanted to have to go through it again.

* * *

"Rena!" Tempo tossed in his sleep as Schala walked into the room early in the morning.

She frowned. 'First you already have a girlfriend, now you're shouting out another girl's name... I'm starting to think that kinky other aspect of myself was wrong about you...' "Hey Tempo." She shook him a little more roughly than was necessary.

"What?" He fully awoke, rubbing his eyes.

"Leopold wants to meet with us. People don't sleep in around here, apparently."

"All right. Let's get going. And it would probably be a good idea if you referred to him as Sir Leopold." He got up and stretched, wishing he had a change of clothes.

"Sure thing. Follow me." Schala led Tempo from the barracks up through the castle. He took in the sights with wide eyed fascination, as opposed to Schala's relative boredom. They finally reached the top of one of the six towers, and found Leopold waiting in the top room.

"Good morning, page Tempo. You are quite a mystery to me, I must say. Where do you come from?"

"Sir, I really don't think you'd believe me if I told you." Tempo bowed his head. "I'm really not sure myself. I think we're a long way from home."

'You have no idea.' Schala grinned to herself.

"Where did you acquire your powers?" Leopold paced around the room, occasionally looking out the windows.

"I have trained with a faction known as Soultech, which I believe has much in common with the Soul Knights."

"I have never heard of this faction."

"I can't explain how we got here sir. I'm not sure how to return home."

Leopold frowned a little. "All right, mystery man. Since you wield soul powers, you are welcome to stay here as long as you need. I would like to test your abilities, however."

"Test me? How?" Tempo began to sound nervous.

"In a battle, of course. There's no other way to test."

"The only thing I have is this mace." Tempo held up his weapon of choice.

"It will do. What happened to the spikes though?"

"Another thing that you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Very well. Now, take this." Leopold held out a small, glowing stone and gave it to Tempo. He took out a second one, drew out a sai, and inserted it into a special slot. "Just putting that in your pocket should be enough." He gestured for Tempo to put the stone away, then drew another sai. "Now, I'll try to go easy on you, but don't go easy on me, all right?"

"If you say so. I don't think that'll be a problem though. How am I supposed to defend against two sais with this?"

"You should be using your powers." Leopold told him.

"But..." Tempo wasn't sure how to protest.

"That stone will ensure that you'll be able to use them without actually draining your spirit energy."

"How is that possible?" He was dumbfounded.

"I'll explain once I'm sure I can trust you. Now get ready, en guarde!" Leopold twirled his sais, then suddenly held them straight, and crossed his arms. The stone in his sai began to glow. "Diamond Shield!" A white glow surrounded Leopold, but not much else happened. Apparently, he was concentrating on defense first, giving Tempo time to warm up.

"All right... Activating Soultech!" Tempo felt the stone in his pocket begin to grow warm. "Gale Storm!" The many beams of blue energy rocked into Leopold's Shield with force, but failed to destroy it.

"Not bad for an opening shot, but put out some more effort." Leopold told him. "Prepare to defend yourself. Flame On!" Leopold roared forward, his body suddenly encased in flame. By the time he reached Tempo, the flame transferred into his sais, which his stabbed forward hard. Tempo barely managed to parry the attack by holding his mace forward horizontaly. It caught between the inner and outer prong on both of them, and he quickly swung upward. The large beams of fire raced into the ceiling. He was thrown backward, but managed to keep his balance.

"So fire's your thing huh? All right, Blizzard Force!" Bluish green waves of energy filled the room, and Leopold was thrown against the opposite wall. His shield shattered.

"Charge!" Leopold shouted simply. White energy appeared out of the air and began to gather in his body. Tempo could tell he was gathering energy for something big.

"Ah... Slam!!" Green energy surrounded his fist, and he charged forward, resulting in a punch that sent Leopold to the floor. Tempo knew it wouldn't be enough, and was proven right as the Soul Knight jumped right back up.

"Diamond Fist!" As Leopold shouted, his right hand instantly crystalized. The following punch sent Tempo rocketing back into the opposite wall, the wind knocked out of him. "Not bad." Leopold smiled as his fist returned to flesh. "Not bad at all. As I suspected, you're not merely a page."

"I'm not?" Tempo asked in a whisper, still struggling to get his breath back.

"No. You're a squire, at least. And a pretty good one at that. Why did you tell me you were a page?"

"Pardon me sir," Tempo finally stood back up, "but I really am a page where I come from."

"You have some incompetent commander then." Leopold grimaced.

"Yes... I would agree with that." Tempo smiled.

"Anyway, anyone who's trained hard enough to have that much skill is obviously trustworthy." Leopold smiled. "I think I can answer some of your questions now."

'I can think of an exception to that.' Tempo thought inwardly. "That's good to hear, sir."

"First, let's get you set up with a real mace. Follow me to the armory."

"You wouldn't happen to have a dagger I could use, would you?" Schala finally broke in as Leopold headed out the door and down the stairs.

"Sure thing. You can probably take your pick." Schala and Tempo followed him down the tower at a brisk pace, then across the wide courtyard. They crossed into the main keep, then suddenly came to a stop as they rounded a corner. Leopold was instantly kneeling, his eyes lowered. Tempo hesitated a second, then quickly followed suit, but kept his eyes on the man Leopold was kneeling before. "Good morning, Master Raganorn." Leopold said simply from his position. Tempo instantly kneeled as low as he could go without lying down. If Leopold referred to him as "Master" then he was obviously a heavy hitter around here. Schala merely watched from behind them, not making the slightest movement.

"Rise, Sir Leopold." Raganorn said in an almost bored tone. "And your companion as well." Leopold quickly got to his feet. Tempo followed more slowly, his eyes fairly wide.

"Where are you off to this morning Master?" Leopold asked with what seemed like geniune interest.

"Bed." Raganorn said simply. "I've been out for about 36 hours trying to locate Moogoo's fortress, with no luck."

"Well, have a good rest Master, but you may be interested to know, this young man ran afoul of Barada not too far south of here." He pointed at Tempo.

"Interesting." Raganorn scratched his chin. "But we do have reason to believe Barada has a separate base of operations from Moogoo. I'll talk to you about it later." With that, he continued on down the hall, and was gone.

"Who was that?" Tempo asked in awe.

"That was Raganorn, leader of the Soul Knights." Leopold smiled. "Now come on, we're almost there."

As they continued on down the hall, Tempo turned to Schala. "Hey, why didn't you bow?"

"I'm no Soul Knight." She said, almost scornfully. "Besides, I'm a... never mind." Tempo gave her a strange look, but let that slip go. Schala decided it was best to keep that information a secret. She had no way of proving she was a princess, no make that queen, since Zeal was dead. And even if she did, she didn't know how other people would react to that fact. On that thought, they reached the armory. Schala's eyes brightened at the sight of all the weapons inside.

"This should be a better weapon for you." Leopold picked a mace off one of the many shelves. Spikes dotted the surface of the sphere, and Tempo could see it was crafted out of good steel. "There should be a dagger over there." Leopold pointed out a row of shelves to Schala.

Tempo swung the mace experimentaly, getting a feel for it. "This sure beats my old clunker. It's nice and heavy too." He backed up, then jumped forward. "Ah-rekka!" He completed the maneuver and smiled. "That ought to cause a fair amount of damage. Finding anything Schala?"

Most of the daggers weren't in the best of shape, but Schala found an iron one that wasn't overly rusty. "It's no Dreamstone, but it'll do." She sheathed the dagger in the same spot that her father's dagger had always rested. Somehow, the iron didn't seem to fill the spot very well.

"Now, you were wondering how that stone allowed you to use your powers without any energy." Leopold stated. "Follow me again please..."

.

"It is difficult to explain. Let me show you." - Genma Saotome, _Ranma 1/2_


	4. The First Loss

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 4: ****The First Loss**

By Nanaki

975 A.D.

As Leopold led them out of the castle, Tempo and Schala would both occasionally slow up to take in the countryside. To Tempo, it didn't appear too horribly different from the Locorn he knew. There were more trees, less houses, and less erosion. To Schala, everything was brand new. It was amazing to see a planetary surface as green as Zeal had been. Where they had emerged from the oddly disappearing mine had been an oddly desolate area, but there was plenty of growth here. Leopold led them to a hillside about half a mile away from the castle. By walking through some tall bushes and pulling back some vines, they found themselves inside of a large underground chamber. In the center, on top of a pillar about four feet high, sat a glowing stone, its color fluctuating by the second.

"Wow. What is this place?" Tempo gasped.

"This is essentially the backup power for the Soul Knights." Leopold began. "Some of us, like Raganorn, for one, are needed too badly to have to worry about using up their powers. This ensures that they don't have to worry. It's basically a storage battery of spirit energy."

"Wow." Tempo said again, somewhat mesmerized by the glowing stone. "Where does the energy come from?"

"Well, occasionally a Soul Knight will come along who doesn't believe in any afterlife. They all know that spirit energy exists of course, but some say that it has no consciousness, no thought. So every once in a while, we get someone who doesn't care if they ever return to the lifestream or not. When they die, their spirit energy is absorbed by this stone. This is where the shards we were using came from."

"You know, that strikes me as just a little bit... evil." Schala grimaced.

"Perhaps." Leopold didn't argue. "But we need this power to fight off a greater evil."

"Like us, for example?" Leopold tensed. None of them had spoken. Then, he suddenly whirled around. Barada and twenty other Viashino stood in the entrance, blocking the way out. "Thank you for finally revealing the cave entrance to us, Leopold." The big lizard grinned as he flexed his claws. "You're getting pretty overconfident, coming here in broad daylight."

"I thought you were hanging out farther to the south." Leopold grimaced as he whipped his sais out.

"We hang out wherever we feel like." Barada's grin broadened. "And right now, I feel like telling you we're taking that stone for Lord Moogoo!"

"Over my dead body!" Leopold shouted.

"That's the plan." Barada responded calmly.

"Guard the stone!" Leopold shouted, then charged at Barada. "Let's see how you handle a real Soul Knight!" He stabbed his sais forward, only to have them met by a huge broadsword that Barada drew with surprising speed. They parried back and forth as the other Viashino surged past.

"I think we're in trouble Schala." Tempo gulped.

"You still have that stone, don't you? Use your powers!" She shouted at him.

"What about you?!" He called, although green energy was already beginning to gather around him.

"I'll do my part, don't worry!" Schala drew her new dagger, then charged toward the encroaching mass of lizards. The first one she came across stabbed into her shoulder with its long claws. Paying no attention, she quickly stabbed the dagger into where she thought its heart would be. The lizard toppled over. Apparently, Barada was something above the ordinary Viashino. As the Nooze quickly closed the gash in her shoulder, she hurled herself at another one. She slashed its throat quickly, then turned to face a third just as a huge flail caught her in the gut, sending her flying back into the wall of the chamber. She slowly stood up, and observed Tempo in action.

"Gale Storm!" The tremendous winds filled the room, and most of the lizards went down for the count as the blue beams of energy smashed into them. Then he rushed forward with his mace, smashing into the survivors. Schala caught her breath, realizing at the time that it was a silly action, since she didn't need to breathe, and charged back into the fray also. "Ah-rekka!" Tempo knocked one lizard over and smashed the skull of a second with the fancy move. The three Viashino that remained standing started to back away from them. Suddenly, they were showered with rocks, and five more Viashino burst up from the ground. Now they were surrounded.

"Uh, Tempo? Wasn't this floor solid rock?" Schala asked as she jumped forward.

Tempo laughed as he bashed in another skull. "You ask all these questions like you seriously expect me to have the answers!" He jumped backward, then started to curse. "Oh sh-" His profanity was cut off as a flail nailed him in the back, and another Viashino delivered a jumping kick to his head. The two actions combined to knock him out. Schala saw that seven of the creatures still remained standing. She tried to back up defensively. Two of them ran forward and slashed her good with a move that would have disemboweled her, if most of her internal organs hadn't been burnt to a crisp long ago. The lizards watched in fascination as the Nooze quickly closed the long gash, then Schala lunged forward and gave the nearest one what it had just tried to give her. The rest of them looked at each other, and suddenly vanished down into the rock floor.

Meanwhile, Barada's sword finally succeeded in cutting a large gash in Leopold's armor, mainly because of his weapon's longer reach. "Why don't you use your powers, little man?" He taunted, but was also geniunely curious about Leopold's lack of soul usage.

"I didn't want to waste them on an opponent as unworthy as you!" Leopold shouted. He hurled one of his sais forward, and Barada shoved his sword up to block it. The sai actually went through the blade, shattering it. Barada's eyes widened as it flew right back to Leopold's outstretched hand.

"You're a bit better than I thought." He nodded in slight respect. "But still no match for me! Spearhead Charge!" Barada held the sword straight out, and dashed at Leopold blindingly fast. Only the fact the sword was broken kept it from doing significant damage.

"All right, if you're going to be that way..." Leopold sighed, "Flame On!" He countercharged, driving the sais through Barada's armor, where the flame energy proceeded to roast him fairly well.

"I... I don't believe it!" Barada shouted. "Uh oh." His eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell to the ground.

"You're no challenge to a true knight." Leopold scoffed, dusting off his gauntlets. "Are you two all right?" He called back to Schala.

"Tempo took a pretty good hit, but I think he'll be okay." She called back.

Suddenly, another shadow filled the doorway. It wasn't nearly as large as Barada's bulk, but Schala was surprised to see Leopold back away in fear. "M, Moogoo!" He choked out. She personally didn't see what he was so afraid of. Moogoo was close to six feet tall. He wore a simple, hooded green robe. She couldn't see what he looked like, because his face was covered with black cloth, except for his striking red eyes.

"Soul Knight, I'll be taking that stone now. Thank you for teaching my overconfident little toady a lesson though." Moogoo nodded slightly, then began walking toward the stone. Leopold made no move to fight him.

"Stop him, you doofus!" Schala screamed at him. "I'll try to help as best I can."

"All right." Leopold suddenly regained his ability to move. "I suppose I have no choice. We all have to die sometime..." He ran towards Moogoo, absolutely no confidence in his stride.

'C'mon self! I have to remember some magic.' Schala thought to herself as Leopold neared Moogoo, who seemed to be ingoring both of them.

"We'll never submit to you Moogoo! Your time has come, dark mage!" Leopold jumped into the air, white energy surrounding him. "Diamond Fist!" Leopold brought his fist down with blinding speed, at least, until Moogoo intercepted him with a simple block.

"Without confidence, any assault is useless." Moogoo said scornfully. "Don't attack me again if you want to live to appreciate those words." Moogoo shifted his grasp from Leopold's fist to his wrist, then twisted violently. Not only did Leopold's wrist snap like a twig, but he went flying about forty feet through the air to smash against the cave wall. Moogoo continued on without a word.

"Excuse me! He's not the only one in here, you know!" Schala ran forward to block Moogoo's path.

"A maiden challenges me now?" He looked very surprised. "I admire your courage, but you're throwing your life away."

"Is that a fact?" Schala asked dangerously. "It's time for you to learn something..." 'C'mon self, I can do this!' She concentrated hard. 'Let's start with some basic holy.' Her eyes opened, and a fair sized beam of purple energy shot forward, throwing Moogoo back nearly to the cave entrance. As she had expected, he retaliated. A small dagger flew her from where he was kneeling on the floor, and imbedded itself in her chest. She effortlessly yanked it out. "...You can't kill what's already dead!" 'But that hurt! Why did it hurt?' She stared down at the dagger. There didn't seem to be anything special about it.

.

Back in the central keep of Locorn Castle, Raganorn's eyes opened suddenly. 'Why can't I get to sleep? I'm tired as hell, so what's with this insomnia? Sheesh.' He turned over, then buried his head under his pillow.

.

"You're going to regret that. Right now, actually." Moogoo glared at Schala. He teleported himself directly in front of her, but when he reappeared, there was a large broadsword in his hand. He swung down hard, and Schala didn't have time to get away. The sword cut deep into her shoulder, and surprising herself, she screamed in pain.

"How is it that you can hurt me?" She hissed.

"I noticed that there seems to be some Lavoid energy emanating from you." Moogoo explained, twisting the sword back and forth to do maximum damage. Schala sank to her knees. "Luckily, I've had this sword specially prepared to repel Lavoid power."

"You're... fighting the Lavoid too?" Schala gasped. "Wait! I want to kill that thing! Maybe we can-"

"Sorry. Not interested." Moogoo shut her up by kicking her in the jaw. "You're an enemy, no matter what." With that, he kicked her hard in the ribs. She flew back through the air, the sword leaving her body as she did so. The Nooze flew through the air like regular blood, as Schala landed next to Leopold's unconcious form. "Now, it's time for you to die, for real."

.

'Damn it! I am so tired! What's going on here?' Raganorn turned over in bed again. Then, his eyes snapped into focus. "Of course! My mission... I've gotta go!" He jumped out of bed, and at a slight gesture from him, his extensive battle armor instantly drifted over, fastening itself to him. A huge claymore and a long katana attached to his back, and he used a bit of soul power to float out the window. 'Now, where do I need to go? Ah... I see.'

.

"Don't bet on it!" Tempo was suddenly in the air, his mace smashing into Moogoo's skull. As he landed, he struggled to keep his balance, as he was still dizzy from being knocked out.

"Such insolence." Moogoo quickly nailed Tempo with a backhand punch, sending him back to the ground, acting as if the mace had never hit him at all.

"I'm not through yet!" Tempo struggled back up. "Slam!" Green energy blazed in his fist as he charged forward.

Moogoo easily blocked the move. "You couldn't even try for a Diamond Fist? You're barely worth the time it's going to take to kill you." He picked Tempo up by his wrist, which shouldn't have been overly easy, since Tempo was about the same height as he was.

"Don't bet on it!" Moogoo calmly turned his head to see another Soul Knight at the cave entrance. But Tempo began to feel relief when Moogoo's eyes widened a little with fear.

"Raganorn!" 'Crud! No more time to fool around. I've got to go for the gold.' Moogoo dropped Tempo and made a mad dash toward the stone.

"Oh no you don't!" Raganorn shouted. He quickly drew his katana, then hurled it at the wizard. Moogoo was forced to stop in his tracks and heal himself as the long sword impaled him. He drew it out of himself, and hefted it up. That gave Raganorn plenty of time to get up close and personal with his huge claymore. "You did all right against my young recruits, but let's see how you handle me!"

"I'm not just going to run away." Moogoo grunted as he barely managed to parry Raganorn's mighty thrust.

"I would be disappointed if you did." Raganorn cut another wide swath of destruction for anything his sword might come in contact with. Moogoo jumped back. "You made a big mistake by coming here, wizard! Comet Charge!" Raganorn's form suddenly disappeared inside a blazing comet over nine feet in diameter. It rushed forward through the air, slamming into Moogoo. The wizard went flying, and landed unfortunately close to the stone. "Oh crud." Raganorn's spirits dropped as his body reappeared. He dashed forward, too late.

"Thanks a million Raganorn." Moogoo smiled as he picked the stone up off its podium. He held it over his head, and a blinding flash filled the chamber. As the light faded, dozens of what certainly appeared to be ghosts swirled around the mage, before being absorbed back into the stone. "Now, even your best efforts are too little, too late." The way the cloth shifted over his face gave the indication that he was grinning broadly. "Dark Mist!" Raganorn was thrown backward as the intense Shadow energy smashed into him, then pummeled into the ground.

"I'm not done for yet!" He gasped, jumped back up, then crossed his arms. "Shatterstorm!"

"You wouldn't!" Moogoo gasped. The katana and claymore instantly shattered, and the large stone began to vibrate as well. "I need supreme power!" Moogoo yelled. The stone dimmed, and a red glow ran down his arms. "Meteo!!" Raganorn hit the deck as his skill failed, and dozens of blazing meteors rained down around him. The strange thing was, none of them seemed to harm him. "Impossible!" Moogoo shouted. "No one has immunity to meteor magic!"

"Guess that makes me no one then." Raganorn grinned. "You're going down, Moogoo."

"Don't bet on it." Moogoo concentrated deeply, then his eyes lit up with a malicious glow. "Let's see how good a leader you are with no one to command! Come and get me, if you can!" With that, he teleported away, dragging the stone along with him.

"Now what did he mean by that? And why was he able to teleport with all the shielding this cave has? We may be in trouble..." He stopped talking to himself as the three downed warriors got back up.

"Who was that guy?" Schala demanded.

"A rather evil character who's been plaguing the area lately." Raganorn told her. "Now that he has the stone, we may be in for some serious trouble though." Surveying the rest of the cave, he saw that Barada and the dead Viashino had vanished along with Moogoo. Tempo, who had probably got the lightest beating, all things considered, walked over to the cave entrance while Raganorn helped Leopold up.

His voice drifted back into the cave nervously. "Um... Is it a bad thing that Locorn castle isn't there anymore?"

.

"Strength without determination means nothing. And determination without strength is equally useless!" - Godo Kisiragi, _Final Fantasy VII_


	5. Onward to Merido

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 5: ****Onward To Merido**

By Nanaki

975 A.D.

"What do you mean "it's not there?" Raganorn demanded as Leopold wearily stood up. "It's been destroyed?"

"No. There's no rubble or anything." Tempo sighed. "It's just disappeared. And so has everyone inside."

"So that's what he meant..." Raganorn kicked the ground. "I don't know if he'll hurt them or not, but he's taken them away from us. I wonder why he didn't drag you three along too though..."

"Probably all the magical shielding on the cave sir." Leopold coughed.

"That partially explains it, but then why was he able to teleport away?"

"The stone allowed him to?"

"That's probably also correct Leopold, but then why did the shielding still protect us?" He shook his head. "I don't know about any of that. But I do know that I'm going after that bastard right now!"

"We're coming too!" Tempo shouted enthusiastically.

"I don't think so." Raganorn frowned. "You could be of some help, yes, but I'd have to spend too much time protecting you. Leopold needs a little time to recover anyway."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Tempo demanded.

Raganorn thought for a minute. "You can go after Barada. We had strong evidence that he has a seperate fortress to the south, past Merido. You three go to Merido and see what you can find out. I'll be heading to Kamaka, because from what I've seen so far, Moogoo's hideout can't be too far east of there." He took a step forward, then turned around. "By the way, one other Soul Knight was out on assignment when Moogoo showed up. He may have been unaffected by that spell. Keep an eye out for Sir Kazin, Leopold."

"Will do sir." Leopold nodded weakly. With that, Raganorn floated up into the air, and was far away in just a few seconds.

"You really think we can take down Barada?" Tempo asked Leopold.

"I'm sure of it, with a little more training. And I hate to say it, but you're going to have to do most of the work, unless Kazin shows up. This wrist is going to keep me down for a while." Leopold sighed heavily. "Also, I don't know how long these little power stones will last. They were magically connected to the main stone, but now that Moogoo has it, I severely doubt that they still are. They probably won't last long at all."

"We'll have to save them for emergencies then." Tempo frowned. "Is there any other way I could get more power in a relatively short amount of time?"

Leopold though for a minute. "Sure, although I don't know if it really exists. Local lore says that there's an ancient artifact called the Soul Ring that greatly amplifies soul power, located not too far south of Merido."

"Hmm... Both tasks point to south of Merido. Let's get going then."

"All right. There's really nothing we can take with us." Leopold grimaced. "I should still be able to walk okay. Let's go." The three set out south, past the hill where the mine had been, and the odd sandy area around it. Tempo was worried a little about Viashino attacks, but nothing happened in the open. They passed into a forest later in the day, and occasionally had to fend off some disturbingly large insects, but that wasn't too much trouble either. Finally, when the sun was lowering in the western sky, they emerged from the trees, and spotted Merido across a wide plain. There was a mountain range running north and south to the east, and another range running northwest to the south of them. "Well, I think we made pretty good time." Leopold smiled. "Let's get over there and take a rest. I still have a headache from Moogoo's treatment anyway."

Leopold had taken one step forward when the ground began to shake. He immediately took the step back as giant beams of blue light shot out of the sky. They left deep gouges in the ground, which quickly widened as the ground continued its tremor. Suddenly, the ground on the opposite side shot up about fifty feet from where they were standing, then the shaking stopped. Peering over the side, Tempo saw it was a very long drop to the bottom. They were effectively stranded on this side. The rift ran straight north on their left, and more gradually northwest on their right. "So much for that." Tempo groaned.

"Don't bet on it." Schala said quietly. She reached into her robes and held up the pendant. Her hope faded quickly as she saw that it was dull and lifeless. Testing the magic inside, she found that its outer appearance was correct. "Forget that. It's empty."

"All right. Let's look for a way across." Leopold encouraged them. He began walking along the northwest rift. Tempo thought there was very little chance that he would find anything, but was proven wrong in less than five minutes. "See?" Leopold pointed ahead. "There's a natural stone bridge just ahead."

Tempo squinted, and found that he was right. "That is so obviously a trap." He frowned.

"And there is so obviously no other way around." Leopold continued on toward the round stone arch, keeping a lookout for any sudden surprises. He stepped onto the bridge very carefully, but still nothing happened. "Come on then. We may be all right." Schala and Tempo warily followed him up. They were in the very middle of the bridge when a large shape rocketed out of the sky, landing hard, and making cracks in the bridge. "Barada!" Leopold shouted.

"It's so nice to be recognized." The big lizard pretended to grin sappily. "Lord Moogoo thought he took care of you all, but it looks like I'll have to clean up after him, as always."

"And I thought I took care of you!" Leopold grimaced. "Looks like I'll have to take you down again."

"I don't think so." Barada grinned for real this time. "Moogoo and I analyzed your attacks. I know you can't do a Diamond Fist with your left hand, and if you try a Flame On with only one sai, the flame energy won't fully transfer, and it'll hit you too."

"What a load of B.S." Tempo stepped forward. "And even if it's true, you still have to deal with me and Schala!"

"Another time kid, if you survive, that is." Barada shook his finger at him, then suddenly jumped in the air, drawing a new sword. "Spearhead Charge!" Tempo jumped back, but Barada aimed his sword straight down. The devastatingly fast attack split the bridge in two, and it began to crumble. Barada jumped back into the air, and vanished from sight. Leopold, Tempo, and Schala jumped over the gap as it began to spread, and quickly ran to the other side of the rift.

"He'll have to try a little harder than that." Leopold grinned, breathing hard.

"Um..." Schala looked behind her. "That crumble isn't stopping."

"Huh?" Glancing back, Leopold saw the edge of the cliff the bridge had been attached to was also falling into the rift. Cracks spread along the ground, and more and more broke off and fell into the chasm. "Huh... Well, I would suggest that we run." He said calmly, then began to sprint all out toward Merido. Tempo and Schala quickly followed suit. As if it could sense this, the encroaching chasm sped up, the cracks in the ground racing out toward them. Of course, the rift had been gradually filling up with all the earth pouring into it, but they still had about a twenty foot fall when the edge caught up. They all blacked out on impact.

.

"Sheesh. You people with blood take so long to recover." Schala frowned as she shook Tempo gently, trying to wake him up. He wearily opened his eyes.

"I survived?" He asked, not quite believing it given the way he felt.

"Yes, but Merido's toast." Schala looked over at the pile of rubble that had been a town. There were a few dazed people moving around, setting up tents. He wearily sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Schala moved over to Leopold, shaking him. "And you too. Come on. I want to go get that stupid lizard!"

"Ugh..." Leopold slowly woke up. With his left hand, he slowly reached over and pulled on his right arm. "You know how my wrist was broken?" She nodded. "It's attached to a broken arm now."

"Maybe you should stop in what's left of Merido." Tempo advised him.

"I don't want to, but maybe you're right." Leopold sighed. "I'll scout the countryside for Kazin while you two look for that ring. But come back before you go after Barada, all right?"

"We'll keep a lookout for Kazin too." Tempo nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." Leopold sighed. "All right, let's go."

.

"Unless you make it to the top you're only gonna get used, so you're better off dead!" - Gafgarion, _Final Fantasy Tactics_


	6. Storming the Beach

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 6: ****Storming The Beach**

By Nanaki

975 A.D.

Tempo felt surprisingly calm as Merido faded into the distance behind them. He had a task, and focused on it. It kept his mind off how pitiful his skills were compared to Raganorn or Moogoo. He had to find the Soul Ring. As a side item, he should keep an eye out for Sir Kazin. That was it. There was nothing else to think about. The people in Merido had reported that the Soul Ring did indeed exist. It was stored in a small shrine over the mountain ranges to the south. Supposedly, it was there because the knights had no need for its power. They had actually been wondering why the knights hadn't been around to collect it before, given all of Moogoo and Barada's activity. Leopold had shrugged. Obviously, the decisions were made farther up.

Schala on the other hand, had her thoughts all over the place. But her most predominant thought was how this all related to the Lavoid. Moogoo knew about it, so there must be some connection. Furthermore, it seemed that Moogoo hated it too. Why wouldn't he want an ally? Maybe it was just because she had been killing his Viashino, but she severely doubted it. There were clouds gathering overhead, and they were rapidly approaching the place where the two mountain ranges met. They were both surprised to see a cave in the range. "You think we should go through there?"

"I don't see why not, except that there's no light. But you can take care of that, can't you?" Tempo smiled.

"I suppose." Schala held up her hand, and a purple flame encased it. They slowly made their way through the inside, occasionally seeing a bat here and there, but not much disturbed them. Neither one of them had much to say. "So, if this isn't your time period, where are you from?" She asked, trying to break the ice.

"1995 A.D. I believe we're in the later 900 A.D.s now." He grimaced, then turned to her. "Really, do you have any idea how this happened?"

"No real idea, no. I've never time traveled before either." She said truthfully, then looked around. "No sign of Barada or any other Viashino. This is too easy." Schala grimaced.

"Don't jinx us." Tempo scolded her. "Maybe Moogoo doesn't think this place is important enough to guard."

"Don't bet on it." She shook her head.

"Luckily, I'm not a gambling man." Schala smiled as he turned away again. The last big gamble she had taken really hadn't worked out very well. In a surprisingly short amount of time, they saw light ahead, and she turned off the flame on her hand. "We're here already?" Tempo was surprised.

It seemed that they were. They were on a small peninsula, which dropped off sharply down to the sea. On the very tip, about a quarter mile away, there was a small shrine. "I'm guessing that's the place." Schala stated the obvious. Tempo said nothing, but cautiously made his way inside. The inside wasn't really "inside." There were no walls, just a bunch of pillars, and parts of the ceiling were falling away. But in the middle of it, quite intact, was a group of statues. They were all dressed in decidedly odd clothing, but Tempo didn't stop to think about that. One statue appeared to be plowing through all the others, and on the finger of its outstretched hand was,

"The ring!" Tempo shouted.

"Hold on a minute. I'll be taking that ring!" They both whirled around. Standing behind them was a man clad in silver battle armor similar to Leopold's.

"Are you Sir Kazin?" Tempo asked hopefully.

"Indeed I am Kazin." The knight nodded. "But how do you know of me? I've never seen you before."

"We've heard a little about you from Sir Leopold and Master Raganorn." Tempo bowed. "And we could really use your help." Schala kept her distance from both of them. She wasn't sure what was going to happen.

"I'm sure you could, given what I've seen. Please give me the ring." He stretched out his hand.

"Of course, sir." Tempo carefully placed it in his palm. "What exactly have you seen?"

"I've seen that Lord Moogoo's way is best, which is why I'm working with him now!"

"Huh?!" Tempo was immensely surprised, but Schala was already springing into action.

"Get down, you doofus! Holy!" A fairly large purple beam rocked into Kazin, who stood unmoving.

"Is that all you've got? Pathetic."

"Tempo, get away from him!" Schala shouted, but it was already too late to do anything. Kazin slipped the ring on his finger, and his eyes lit up with an orange glow.

"Icequake!" He stretched his arms out.

"Oh sh-" Schala was cut off as freezing winds descended on the cliff. The ground quickly hardened, then actually turned to ice. Within seconds, cracks appeared, and the shrine and everything around it broke apart and fell into the sea. Once again, Schala was knocked out.

.

She was immensely surprised to discover Tempo was awake first. He was nudging her leg with his foot, and he couldn't do much else, given that they were both tied up in a dark room with wooden walls. Her clothes were dry, so she must have been out for a long time. Either that, or she had never hit the water in the first place. She couldn't remember. "Schala? Wake up." He nudged her again.

"I'm awake." She said wearily. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure. This place seems to be swaying back and forth sometimes, so we may be on a boat."

"Oh great."

"Yeah. They didn't disarm us, for some reason, but my mace can't cut through anything. Can you reach your dagger?"

He heard her moving around for a minute. "Got it." She said, then he heard the sounds of her ropes being cut. He was free shortly after. "Well, let's get going, wherever we need to go."

"I have no idea." He shrugged. "But let's not stay here." He cautiously opened the door, and they ventured out into a hallway that wasn't much lighter than their room had been. He could see Schala's outline now, but that was about it. Offhand, he wondered why she wore so many robes all the time. They had to get in the way a lot, and be uncomfortably warm a lot of the time. He saw a light in the distance, and walked stealthily toward it. Peering around the corner, he saw two Viashino guards, but they were both asleep. They walked silently past, and up a flight of wooden stairs. They emerged from them onto the deck of a ship, as Tempo had suspected. "We're lucky. Not far from the shore." He observed the cliffs off the starboard side. "Feel like swimming for it? I don't want to stay here anymore, and I'm really hungry besides."

"Sure thing." Schala shrugged. He took one step toward the side railing. There was a heavy thump behind them.

"Hold it." They both turned to see a large Viashino on the deck behind them.

"Barada!" Tempo yelled even as Schala shushed him. She was too late. Eight more Viashino instantly appeared on the deck.

"Heh. You don't realize it, but you flatter me." The big lizard took one stomp forward. "No, I am Berreka, Barada's right hand lizard. I was assigned to keep an eye on you two, but it looks like my incompetant help screwed up." He turned back to glare at the other soldiers. They all gulped and pointed fingers at each other. Berreka sighed. When he turned back, Tempo was already sprinting for the railing. "Hey!" In a second, he had caught up to Tempo, and held him by the shirt collar. Tempo glared defiantly back. "Huh, you're not as brave as most Soul Knights, but you're a lot smarter. Interesting." He turned so he was holding Tempo and facing Schala in the same direction. "Anyway, I've been instructed not to eliminate you two yet. But I can ignore that order at any time if you put up any resistance." He started walking up toward the stern of the ship. Schala made no immediate move to resist as he roughly grabbed her arm and propelled her up the stairs toward the steering wheel. He threw her roughly down behind it, and Tempo too. "Now, tie them up again. Securely this time!" He shouted to the other lizards, who hurried to comply.

"Well, that got us a long way." Schala complained, but Tempo didn't reply. Glancing over at him, she saw what looked like a green spark drifting into his leg every few seconds. It took her a while to figure out what he was doing, but when she did, she started to smile. He was gathering energy into his leg very slowly, so as not to attract attention. As an added bonus, he was able to draw the energy from the small stone in his pocket still. Since there wasn't too horribly much there, he could control its flow better than the energy straight from himself.

They just sat there for a few minutes as Berreka piloted the ship. He peered ahead in the darkness of the night. "We're approaching the base. Prepare for docking. I'm reducing speed now." He called out to the crew.

"Reduce this!" Tempo's leg suddenly lit up with a brilliant green light. The ropes holding him down seemed to simply burst away, and he jumped up. "Vertiround!" He kicked upward in a full circle, catching Berreka in the chest and chin. The Viashino captain smashed through the steering wheel, sending splinters of wood flying, then fell through the deck to the rooms below. Dust rost up out of the hole. The other Viashino watched in amazement for a moment. Berreka quickly pulled himself back up onto the deck. He looked like he had a scathing remark for Tempo, but the ship suddenly started to speed up.

"Oh no! Jettison the fuel tanks!" He shouted. The crew hurried to try to do so.

"Fuel tanks?" Tempo wondered out loud. He suddenly noticed that the ship didn't have any sails. Of course, it must run on a motor. What a motor was doing in 975 A.D., he didn't know, but now wasn't the time to worry about it. With a sinking feeling, he realized he had smashed all the steering controls. There was a jarring sensation as the bottom of the ship began to scrape over rocks. The dim outline of the cliffs grew steadily higher in front of them.

"Abandon ship!!" Berreka cried out. He started to run for the side.

"Schala, hold on to me!" Tempo shouted. Both his legs began glowing this time. Schala tentatively put her arms around his shoulders. "You're going to go flying right off. I mean it, hold on to me!"

"If that's what you want..." She shrugged, then got a good grip on him.

"Yes! Now keep it right there..." She felt is muscles tense. The ship was really shuddering now. Water was starting to spray over the side.

'Very well.' Schala actually smiled. 'I'm probably going to be quoting that back to you totally out of context several times.' The cliffs seemed impossibly high in the darkness, and she realized they were going to hit any second.

"Negative Gravity!" Tempo shouted just as the front of the vessel began to splinter against the cliffs. He jumped upward, and they proceeded to continue on up through the air. Schala began to relax her hold so it was just enough to hold on. "Tighter!" Tempo shouted through the wind. "The worst is just about to-" He was cut off as the ship vanished in a huge explosion. The lamps inside obviously hadn't mixed well with the fuel tanks. The resulting shockwave jarred them violently, and large pieces of wood were hurled up at them. Tempo managed to hold on to his trajectory until they finally launched up above the tops of the cliffs. The green glow vanished from his legs, and they settled slowly to the ground. "Wow, what a rush!" He smiled. "Did the big lizard bite the dust?"

"I didn't see what happened to him." Schala shrugged.

"Ah well. It doesn't really matter. You know, I've never even heard of a skill called "Negative Gravity!" It was almost like I instinctively knew what to do."

"That's good." Schala smiled at him. "Because my powers don't seem to be in any hurry to come back."

Then, they both stopped talking as lightning flashed. It illuminated a huge stone fortress, with hundreds of Viashino coming and going from the main entrance, less than a mile away from them. As the thunder rumbled and their vision faded, both of them realized what they were looking at.

.

"At the edge of chaos, unexpected outcomes occur. The risk to survival is severe." - Ian Malcolm, _Jurassic Park_


	7. Barada's Fortress

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 7: ****Barada's Fortress**

By Nanaki

975 A.D.

"What do you think?" Schala asked him. "Should we go for it?"

"Well, Leopold did say we would have to do most of the work anyway. It might be more reassuring to have him around though."

"Hey, with your powers, I don't think we have anything to worry about." She smiled at him.

"Yes, well, about that." He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the small stone. "I used up all the power in this thing. My Soultech is back to being emergency use only."

"Oh. Well, I think we should be able to handle it anyway." Her smiled vanished though.

"All right, let's go for it. But let's be careful. I don't want to just go rushing in, trying to fight our way to Barada. We'd end up dead for sure."

"All right then. Let's get ourselves over there and see if there's more than one entrance." Tempo nodded, and they slowly walked across the dark plain, ducking at the occasional flash of lightning. It was going to start raining pretty soon, Tempo was sure of that. He wanted to be inside before it did. Even if "inside" was a Viashino lair. The still darkness was oddly creepy though. He just felt like something should be happening. They arrived at the side of the fortress about ten minutes later. The Viashino were all coming and going down one main road that Tempo guessed pointed toward Locorn. He wasn't exactly sure where they were. None of them seemed to be patrolling the sides of the castle. "See any way in?" Schala asked him, feeling the thick rock wall.

"Not really, short of climbing over the side." He frowned.

"We don't have anything resembling climbing equipment." She frowned. "Guess it's up to me then." She frowned again, trying to hard to recall even the most basic telekinesis. What had happened to her powers? She had been feeling them slowly coming back over the past few days, but far too slowly for her liking. Anyway, she couldn't teleport them inside, because she didn't have a mental image. She would just have to create a doorway.

"What are you doing?" Tempo asked, watching her frown as she closed her eyes. She didn't respond. A few seconds later, two of the giant stone blocks in the wall began to slowly grind outward. Tempo stepped backward as they slid to the ground with an extremely heavy thud. A deep gloom awaited on the other side.

"Well, let's get going." She gestured inside. Tempo reluctantly followed her into the darkness. They found themselves in a large, empty chamber. Tempo guessed it was a storage area that wasn't in use right now. They quickly found the door, and stepped out into a dimly lit hallway. "Any guesses on where we might find him?" Schala whispered.

"Not precisely. I would say it's safe to assume that he's somewhere in the main keep though." He slowly worked his way inside, keeping a careful eye out. The halls were deserted. He grew less and less cautious as they discovered nothing but empty space. What had happened to the hundreds of Viashino they had seen going out the entrace? "Where is everyone?" He wondered out loud, almost disappointed.

"Maybe we should check the entrance." Schala pointed in the direction she thought it was. "It seems like they all went somewhere."

"This is too easy." Tempo grinned. "We've been so careless, they could have swarmed us by now. Is Barada really that incompetant? I mean, Berreka seemed to know we were coming, unless I'm totally off the mark. Why would Barada leave this place empty?" He shook his head, smiling. "Ah well, let's get down there." They walked toward where Tempo assumed the main entrance was. As they got closer, he heard someone talking. They slowed down and peered around the corner.

The gates were open wide, and Barada was standing in the middle, giving instructions to a horde of his flunkies assembled outside. At least, it looked like a horde in the brief flashes of lightning. The torches didn't illuminate much outside. It seemed that it was starting to rain, and Tempo could barely hear over the wind blowing through the entrance. "You go on ahead," Barada was saying. "I'll stay here and wait until Berreka gets back, then lead his forces after you. I assume you can handle the trek to Moogoo's castle without my help."

"Yes lord, now that the Soul Knights are gone." One of the Viashino outside replied.

"Good. Then get there with all possible haste." In the flashes of lightning, Tempo saw that most of the horde had already moved off down the road. Barada slowly drew the gates shut, then shouldered a heavy bar into place to lock them closed.

"Is this unbelievable luck or what?" Tempo grinned.

"Don't get overly cocky." Schala narrowed her eyes a little. "But let's go." They stepped out onto the top of a flight of stairs that led down into the entrance way.

"I think you'll be waiting for Berreka for quite a while." Tempo continued to grin. Barada's gaze quickly went up to the top of the stairs.

"How did you get in here?!" He yelled. He didn't draw his sword yet.

"That's for me to know, and you to die before finding out." Tempo whipped out his mace. Schala had her hand on the hilt of her dagger.

"You insolent little punk!" Barada yelled. Then he slowly began to grin as he drew a sword that was even bigger than the one Leopold had smashed. Tempo's smile faded. "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Already you're fighting an uphill battle." Tempo told him, looking down at him from the top of the stairs. "I've learned a lot already, and I saw Leopold kick the crap out of you."

"If you think you can take me, you're welcome to try. But you'll make a great addition to Moogoo's army." Then he turned to Schala. "You however, have to die right now, Lavoid worshipper."

Tempo turned to her for a second. "Lavoid worshipper? What's he talking about?"

Schala grimaced. "It's a very long story that - look out!"

"Spearhead charge!" Barada was up the stairs in less than a second. Tempo managed to jump out of the way, but Barada was now up on the landing with them. He swung his sword in a broad arc, and Tempo barely jumped out of the way. If he had parried, it wouldn't have done any good anyway, given the force of that swing. While Barada was facing Tempo, Schala instantly had her dagger in her hand, and then, imbedded in his armor. It didn't cut into him very deeply, but the effect was immediate. He whirled on her, whipping his fist into her face so fast that she barely had time to see it coming, and certainly no time to dodge. She went flying through the air, and her head slammed into the wall. She was momentarily knocked out. Barada began to turn back around.

"Ah-rekka!" Tempo slammed his mace into the big lizard's head as hard as he could. Barada staggered back, steadying himself against the wall. Tempo was breathing hard.

"I see you got a better mace." Barada grimaced. "Too bad that's the only chance you'll have to use it. Spin Slice!" Barada rushed forward again, his sword spinning around in his hand many times just in the fraction of a second it took to get to Tempo. Luckily for him, the blade was beginning to spin away as it connected with his shoulder. A huge gash was opened, leading outward. The force of the impact caused Tempo to lose his balance, and he tumbled roughly down the stairs.

"Ugh..." He reached for his mace where it lay several feet away from him. He felt a little woozy as he saw his blood flowing out onto the stone floor. But he knew that if he didn't get up right away, Barada would proceed to kill Schala. Besides, if he couldn't handle this, how could he possibly take on Moogoo? Quite simply, he had to get up, and right now. Not in a little while, when he was feeling better. If he could do this, victory would be his, he was sure of it. He quickly got to his knees, even as the world spun around him. Then he raggedly got to his feet, and quickly picked up his mace. He didn't even bother to look at the wound. He knew it was bad. The sooner he beat the lizard, the sooner he could go about treating it. He straightened his posture, and looked up the stairs. As he had thought, Barada was going straight for Schala. In fact, he already had his sword poised to stab down into her. "Hey!" Tempo yelled. Barada hadn't expected Tempo to be back on his feet nearly so soon. It got his attention. Now Tempo smiled. "Pal, you just opened a big ol' can of whup ass." He said coolly. Then, feeling lightheaded, he charged up the stairs.

He ducked his head down, trying to keep low. He saw Barada start to swing. If he was going to survive, his timing would have to be split second. But suddenly, he had a burst of inspiration. He swung his mace down into the stairs. The kinetic energy of his charge transferred to the mace, then on into the stairs. He stopped in his tracks, while a shock wave continued on up the stairs, sending broken pieces of stone flying. "Ground Swell!" Barada's swing connected with the shock wave just as it hit him, and his sword shattered. He fell to the floor. Tempo resumed his charge up the stairs. "Ah-rekka!" He ran at Barada. But Barada seized his swinging fist, and stood back up. Tempo winced at the grip.

"I've had just about enough of you kid. Time to end this, because I..." Barada trailed off suddenly, his eyes open wide. Behind him, Schala drew her dagger out of his neck roughly, blood spurting everywhere is she did so. He turned to glare at her. "You... filthy... Lavoid beast..." She said nothing, but her gaze borred into him. "Heh. They think they've won." He said as he sank to his knees. "Those bastards. I'll show them." Tempo got a confused look on his face. He had no idea what Barada was talking about. "You two don't mind if I tell you everything, do you?" Now he was really surprised, but Tempo shook his head. "Heh. I never wanted this position. They forced me to take this job. I told them I wasn't ready. I told them I couldn't handle it. They said that was my problem. Well, it's their problem now. Heh."

"Who are they?" Schala asked him. She was afraid he would die before he got the whole story out.

"Wouldn't you like to know... Lavoid bitch." Blood began to fill his mouth, and he started coughing. "Damn them. Those bastards..." He trailed off, and his eyes closed. Soon, his breathing stopped.

Tempo turned to Schala. "Lavoid?" He politely left out Barada's secondary descriptions of her.

"It's a very long story. It's what Moogoo seems to be fighting, although I have no idea why he would have to fight the Soul Knights to do it."

Tempo's confused look returned. "This is over my head, again. Let's go back to Merido and pick up Leopold, then go after Kazin and the Soul Ring. I must say, I'm glad to get this out of the way."

"Yes." Schala nodded. 'But it wasn't good to kill someone who obviously hates Lavoids as much as I do. What's going on here?'

.

"Why are you mad? We're friends, aren't we?"

"Get lost! I never want to see you again!" - Algus Sadalfas and Ramza Beoulve, _Final Fantasy Tactics_


	8. After Raganorn

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 8: ****After Raganorn**

By Nanaki

975 A.D.

"All right cadets! This is a standard race. One lap around the track. Winner is done for the day, loser gets to clean out the locker room!" The Soultech commander shouted. Tempo tensed on the track, ready to go. There had been seven other racers, but six were irrelevant. Garin was also tense beside him. "Go!" The commander had shouted. Tempo took off at his fastest sprint, Garin just behind him. He slowed a little rounding the corner, and Garin surged ahead. On the rear straight stretch, he caught up again.

From the opposite side of the track, he could hear Rena cheering him on. No, he hated to realize that she was cheering them both on. Why she didn't hate Garin like he did, he could never tell, but she didn't. Garin gained a substantial lead as they rounded the back corner. On the final straight, Tempo poured on the speed. About ten yards away from the finish, he caught up. Suddenly, Garin varied his stride a little bit. Tempo had never been sure exactly what happened, but he lost his footing, and sprawled into the pavement. He had numerous bad abrasions, he looked terrible, Garin had won... ...and he had to clean out the locker room.

* * *

"Damn that bastard." Tempo said quietly as he sat up from the blankets on the ground in a tent in Merido. It was just beginning to get light outside. Leopold and Schala were sleeping relatively peacefully. At least, Leopold was. It was hard to tell with Schala. She never moved, or snored, or gave any indication that she was alive. He wondered why he knew that. Did he stay awake watching her sometime or something? He didn't remember. He had to admit to himself, Schala was attractive, but deep down, it just seemed that there was something wrong with her. Fundamentally wrong. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he got the feeling that she was a deeply disturbed person. Then again, she claimed to be from another planet. Who knew what was going on with her?

They had gotten back roughly twenty four hours after leaving Barada's fortress. It had been more southeast of Merido than straight south, which was probably why the Soul Knights had been unable to find it. Leopold had been fast asleep, and they hadn't woken him up. Tempo yawned. Actually, it had probably only been a few hours since they had got back. He crawled back under the blankets again.

He must have fallen asleep quickly, because the next thing he knew, the sun was almost up, and Leopold was shaking him awake. "Hey, glad to see you're alive! When did you two get back?"

"Very late last night. You were asleep, and we didn't wake you up. How's the wrist?"

"Still broken." Leopold grimaced. "But that's not important. How did it go?"

"Well, we failed to get the Soul Ring when Kazin showed up and took it for Moogoo."

"Aw, Jeez." Leopold turned his head away, not quite believing it yet.

"But we did kill Barada."

"No way!" Leopold started smiling now.

"I'm serious. I fought him to almost a standstill, and Schala finished him off."

"You fought him to a standstill by yourself?" He found it a little hard to believe.

"Well, not really. He knocked Schala out early on. We rumbled for a while, and he was about to gain the upper hand, until Schala knifed him in the neck."

"So she knows what she's doing with that dagger?"

"Definitely." Tempo grinned. "I wouldn't want to piss her off. Anyway, Barada's gone, but I wouldn't count out the Viashino threat. We were able to fight him one on one because he sent all the others to Moogoo's castle, wherever that is."

"Well, if Barada's taken care of, and Kazin is bringing the Soul Ring to Moogoo," Leopold grimaced, "then we're done here. We should go after Master Raganorn."

"How long will it take to get to Kamaka from here? I remember he said that's where he was going."

"About two days, maybe more. He won't still be there though."

"Do we have any better clues?"

"Unfortunately, no. Let's get going then."

.

The following two days of travel were extremely uneventful. So much, in fact, that Tempo began to grow uneasy at the total lack of enemy activity. "I don't get why they're not at least sending minor annoyances to slow us down." Tempo remarked to Leopold as they were once again crossing through the large sandy area surrounding the hill where the mine would eventually be. "They obviously know where we are, given that rift they made by Merido."

"I hate to say it, but Moogoo probably doesn't consider us a big enough threat for him to worry about. Given that you dispatched Barada with such apparent ease, I'm starting to wonder why he put up with that lizard at all."

"Barada said some pretty weird stuff before he went down." Tempo shrugged. "Maybe Moogoo agreed to take him in as part of a treaty with a higher power."

* * *

Vigo: Interesting theory.

Gren: We're not able to find out?

Vigo: No, unfortunately. I don't know any more about what Barada was talking about than Tempo does.

Gren: Maybe I should ask Rofellos about it.

Vigo: Good luck. I couldn't find him anywhere. I think he's alive right now.

Gren: Then we should be able to find him.

Vigo: Maybe not. I think this is his lifetime off, in which case, he wouldn't want to be found.

Gren: I think I'll have a look around anyway.

Vigo: Wait until Arthur gets back. We should be paying attention to them now anyway...

* * *

"A higher power than Moogoo? Yeah right." Leopold smiled. "He's as bad as they come."

"Where did he come from anyway?" Tempo asked him. Schala started paying more attention from where she was walking behind them.

"No one really knows. There's a local legend that he appeared out of a blue portal one night about three years ago. Everyone's heard the story, but no one's an eyewitness. It's very frustrating that way."

"Yes, a lack of eyewitnesses can be incredibly frustrating." Tempo said with notable bitterness.

'Whoah! Now what's this about?' Schala wondered. She increased her step so she was a little closer to them. She didn't want to miss anything.

"You talk with that much emotion in your voice, you have to tell us why." Leopold said quietly, not wanting to make him mad.

"Oh, just that the love of my life was murdered about six months ago. I'm almost one hundred percent sure of who did it, and I have no proof at all."

"Owch." Leopold winced. "I'm sorry to hear that. But if you're sure of who did it, why don't you just go after him?"

"Things aren't quite that simple where I come from." Tempo kicked the dirt, sending a cloud of dust into the air in front of them. "And to add insult to injury, Barada nabbed her sister Silva as soon as we got here. I don't know if she's still alive or not. There was no sign of her at Barada's fortress..."

"I'm almost certain she'll be in Moogoo's castle." Leopold tried to reassure him. "Master Raganorn is pretty much a match for Moogoo if they fight one on one. If Moogoo was planning the stone heist a while ahead, it would have been in his best interests to have a hostage. Of course, he seems to have the entire population of Locorn now, but don't even bother to ask me what's up with that."

Schala stepped forward so she was even with them, a strange light in her eyes, or so it seemed to Tempo when he turned to look at her. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Tempo, I promise you that as long as I'm still in one piece, you won't lose her too."

"Thank you." He said softly. He wanted to ask Schala what this sudden compassion was about, but not while Leopold was around. He marched on in silence.

.

"Finally. That's Kamaka, dead ahead." Leopold pointed. The town was sitting on a slight rise, glowing an orangish red in the light of the sunset. "I'll be glad to get inside and get some sleep."

"Me too." Tempo agreed. "Although I am getting a bit nervous the closer we seem to get to Moogoo."

"We'll be fine as long as Master Raganorn is with us." Leopold grinned.

"I don't see him around any-"

"Yes." Tempo interrupted Schala. She didn't protest. She realized that the hope of making it back to Raganorn was pretty much all that was keeping these two going. They remained silent as they approached the town. Leopold breathed a sigh of relief as he was about to step inside the city's walls. But then a blue light flashed, and he was thrown back to the ground.

"Now what?" He demanded, looking annoyed.

"Just a small diversion. Whatever Moogoo thinks, I couldn't just let you show up at our place with no resistance, right?" A voice taunted him.

"Kazin." He hissed, then got up and turned to face him. "You traitor, why are you doing this?"

"I have my reasons. Suffice to say, I don't feel like telling you about them. Moogoo wasn't overly pleased with what happened to Barada. You're all going to pay for that. Prepare yourself Leopold!" All three of them tensed, and Kazin did likewise. "Icequake!"

"Flame On!" Leopold charged through the freezing winds and blowing shards of ice, his sais glowing with red hot flames. Icicles shot up in front of him, only to be shattered by the blazing daggers. But then, the ground Leopold was running on shattered, the pieces scattering everywhere, and he lost his balance and fell. More ice caved in on top of him, burying him underneath.

"That was simple enough." Kazin dusted his hands off. "Now for you-" He stopped suddenly. A bright light flared off to his right.

"Comet Charge!"

"Oh damn it." Kazin managed to say before a flaming mass bowled into him, pushing him through the air, and smashing him into the outer wall of the city, leaving quite a dent. He slowly slid to the ground as the comet faded, revealing Raganorn standing in its place. Kazin weakly stood back up. "You'll pay for this one." He growled.

"I doubt it." Raganorn smiled, but Kazin was already teleporting away. Tempo was already digging Leopold out of the ice. In a few moments, Leopold emerged, shivering and dripping wet.

"That was a load of fun." He complained, then saw who had saved their asses. "Master Raganorn! Good to have you back! But what brings you back here?"

"I finally found Moogoo's castle." Raganorn said in a complaining tone, suggesting it had been a long and boring task. "But I was already tired from being out all day, and I had to fight about three dozen Viashino that stumbled on me when I wasn't paying attention, so I came back here to get a little rest."

"Was there any sign of the other Soul Knights over there?" Leopold asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Not that I saw." He shook his head.

"But you know for sure where Moogoo is?" Schala spoke up.

"Most definitely. We can get started after him in just a few hours."

"That's good." Schala smiled. "With all four of us working together, his ass is grass."

.

"It would never occur to him to thank you for saving his life."

"Apparently not." - Ian Malcolm and Doc Thorne, _The Lost World_

(Nanaki's note: Man, this chapter was chalk full of lame phrases that I thought were cool when I was seventeen. Rest assured, though Tempo will continue to talk like a high-schooler throughout the story, most of the other characters snap out of it.)


	9. The Kazin Incident

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 9: ****The Kazin Incident**

By Nanaki

975 A.D.

"There it is!" Raganorn pointed excitedly toward Moogoo's castle. He was hovering about fifteen feet above the ground, something Schala had been trying to figure out how to do, and she couldn't see it yet. The light was weird too. The clouds were thick over the mountain pass, and the grass seemed to be a very odd color.

"Well let's get down there, because I think we're about to have a thunderstorm out here." Tempo had picked up on it too. Raganorn looked a little too happy to be bothered by the weather.

"You got it. Let's go give that son of a bitch what he deserves!" He charged down the trail. The other three ran behind him. Amazingly, even here, there was no opposition from the enemy.

"This is starting to freak me out." Tempo admitted as they ran. "It's like he doesn't even care. Or else this is a trap."

"All their other "traps" have worked out for us so far." Schala reassured him. With that, they were close to the imposing main gates. Moogoo's castle was full of twisted spires, and oddly rounded windows. Raganorn and Leopold would have expected the castle to have very narrow windows, or none at all. Up close, it looked very alien, and Raganorn finally stopped grinning.

"Get ready everyone. I'm going to blow this gate in." He stepped back, and raised his fist into the air. The others readied their weapons.

"Now, there's no need for that." A mocking voice came from behind the gate, and it slowly creaked open on ancient hinges. Kazin stood in the center, and as the gate swung wider, they all saw a fair amount of Viashino standing there too. "It's not like you ever could have gotten inside anyway. Now, that's far enough!" With that, the Viashino rushed forward.

Tempo got things rolling with the same technique he had used against Barada on the stairs. The ground burst up and outward in front of him, causing many of the big lizards to lose their balance. Raganorn drew out his claymore, and proceeded to lay much waste. Schala and Leopold did what they could from afar, while Tempo charged in to finish off whatever Raganorn didn't. In a few minutes, the lizards stopped coming. Kazin sighed. "Well, it looks like I'm actually going to have to do this myself."

"Don't sound so confident." Tempo grinned. "We're gonna bust you up."

"It would appear that way, but I prefer to fight one on one." Kazin stretched his arms out, and retreated farther into the castle. They all ran after him. Suddenly, Schala, Tempo, and Raganorn were encased inside individual force fields, leaving only Leopold on the outside. "And you're the one I prefer to fight against." Kazin finished, pointing at him.

"You coward!" Raganorn shouted from inside the prison, banging his fist on the invisible barrier.

"Don't worry about it master. I can handle him if I really need to." Leopold grimaced. It was a lie. His wrist was still killing him from the Flame On he had used earlier.

"You really think so, huh Leopold?" Kazin drew out a wicked looking scimitar. "You'll soon find out how wrong you are!" Leopold whipped out both of his sais in response. Wasting no time, Kazin charged at him. Since the scimitar had a much longer reach, and he wouldn't be able to use his right hand much anyway, Leopold did the most logical thing he could think of. He quickly raised his good arm, and whipped the sai at Kazin, then transferred the other sai over to his good hand. Kazin honestly didn't expect the move, as his expression indicated when the dagger buried itself up to the hilt in his chest. But he quickly whispered a few words, and the sai fell out as a soft white light fell on him. The wound closed instantly. The action prompted Schala to try to use magic against him, but it seemed the field prohibited her from that too.

Leopold jumped high in the air, then came down at a forty five degree angle, thrusting his sai forward. Kazin blocked it easily. Leopold resigned himself, then his legs began to glow brightly. "Thunder Kick!" Lightning seemed to engulf the lower half of his body, and his foot raced furiously fast toward Kazin's head. Kazin went flying through the air, to smash back against the castle wall. 'Wow! I'm actually doing it!' He thought, smiling to himself. 'Too bad I had to use my soul powers though. That probably took a few weeks off my life.'

But Kazin wasn't finished. He groggily got back up, then raised his scimitar again. "Use your soul powers on me again, and you'll live to regret it, although you won't live long after that."

"You're all talk." Leopold twirled his sai expertly in his left hand. He anticipated Kazin's sword thrust, and caught the blade between the prongs of his sai. Twisting it, he quickly disarmed Kazin, then grabbed him by the arm. "I think you're going to like this one. Flame On!" Instantly, Kazin's body burst into flame. Leopold jumped back quickly, as Kazin chanted an ice spell. A large crystal of ice fell on him, extinguishing the flames. As the smoke cleared, he looked extremely pissed off.

"I warned you. Now it's too late." Kazin's eyes lit up with an orange glow. "Dancing Blade!" Instantly, his scimitar lifted of the floor and began to rotate wildly. It criss crossed the room at lightning speed, and the three reluctant observers gasped as blood began to spurt from Leopold in several places. The scimitar came to rest in Kazin's hand, and he grinned.

Leopold couldn't believe it. He watched the blood pour out of his body with wide eyes. He quickly realized that he was bleeding to death. There was only one thing he could do. It would shave years off his life, but that was better than dying right now. He closed his eyes, and reached into the depths of his soul for the strongest spell he knew. "Diamond Body!" His eyes opened as he shouted. Instantly, a blinding white light encased him, and his body crystalized. The bleeding stopped instantly.

"Very impressive." Kazin nodded approval. "I wasn't aware you had that much skill." Then, his grin quickly faded into a sneer. "But it's time you learned that there are ways to break a diamond! Icequake!" The floor turned to ice instantly, but Kazin focused the spell more this time. Ice quickly encased Kazin's legs, and ran up his torso, leaving only his head free. He struggled, but somehow couldn't break through the ice. "Now..." Kazin began to concentrate, then he rushed forward. "Heee-" He punched Leopold's torso. Cracks appeared in the crystal. "Yaaah-" He kicked Leopold's right leg. More cracks. "Shio-" A roundhouse kick, nailing him in the back. "Kei!!" And one final punch, that went all the way through Leopold. He literally shattered, thousands of diamond pieces scattering off into the dark.

"Nooo!!" Raganorn shouted, pounding on his barrier again.

Kazin turned calmly toward them. "Next." He studied them for a minute, then Schala's barrier disappeared.

"You're the biggest coward who ever lived!" Tempo shouted at him. Kazin didn't pay attention. Schala smiled as she drew her dagger. The way things were going, they were all in for a surprise.

"What do you think you can do to me with that?" Kazin almost laughed at the puny weapon she carried.

"You're about to find out." She continued to grin, then launched herself at him. For the first time since she had landed here, she was really giving it her all. The three men watching were very surprised at the speed she moved, given the robes she was wearing. Kazin had a broad gap in his armor before he even realized she was getting close to him. He brought his scimitar up and charged forward. A large blast of purple energy pushed him back. "You're lucky I'm not at full power," she taunted him, "or you would be SO dead."

"There's big difference between luck and power." He ducked down low, and immediately thrust up with a huge swing. Schala parried with the dagger, but was knocked backwards. "It's time you learned what that difference is. Absolute zero!" He immdediately swung downward, giving her no time to defend. The scimitar cut fairly deep into her shoulder, and ice began to spread down from the wound.

Schala couldn't even remember a simple fire spell. She was extremely annoyed with both him and herself, but couldn't do anything about it. Half of her body was frozen. "Leopold couldn't compete with me." Now he taunted her. "What made you think you had a chance?"

Schala had a hard time not revealing it. She felt the Nooze working fast and furious to break down the ice. Suddenly, the blue crystals shattered, and she instantly charged at Kazin. She was tempted to stop and savor the look on his face. But then, something was wrong. Just before the dagger connected, his hand hit her shoulder. Then, he flipped through the air, landing right behind her. She started to turn, but too late. In a flash, the scimitar was imbedded deep in her back, then all the way through. She was effectively impaled. Kazin let go, and she sank to her knees, then the ground.

"Schala!!" Tempo cried out. He didn't want to watch anymore. He couldn't believe they were all going to end up like that. Well, he was anyway. Kazin would probably call on Moogoo for help with Raganorn. He turned away, toward Raganorn, so he wouldn't have to watch. Just in time to see Raganorn go insane.

At least, that's what it seemed like. His eyes radiated a brilliant green. "El! No, not again!!" He punched the barrier as hard as he could, many times, in rapid fire succession. He kicked it, threw his shoulder into it, as he howled with rage. The barrier seemed to shimmer slightly each time he hit. Kazin turned to watch too, ignoring Schala's still form. Raganorn actually seemed to think he could get out of there.

Schala slowly stood back up. She was really going to enjoy this. "Sorry." She began. Kazin instantly whirled back around. He had though that she might find some way to heal herself. That, he could accept. But no, the blade was still protruding from her midsection. Eerily, there was no blood to be seen anywhere. "Sorry," she said again, beginning to grin, "but that trick only works once." Then, incredibly, she began to pull the blade through her, out the front. The hilt proved to be a problem, so Schala rotated the sword around inside her, making the hole bigger, before pulling it all the way out. Kazin just stood, dumb with amazement. He could see all the way through her, and there was no blood. He jumped with surprise as Schala threw the scimitar at him. No, she was throwing it TO him, not at him. "Here. I think you're going to be needing this." She was grinning widely now. What could she possibly mean by that?

"Eeaaaggghhh!!" Kazin felt an intense magical backlash, and then Raganorn was free, his huge claymore heading right for Kazin's neck. Green bolts of lightning crackled around the room.

"This is impossible!" Kazin shouted as he jumped away.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with here." Raganorn smiled as his blade connected with Kazin's armor, rending a giant tear in it. "And for underestimating us, you will die. This is for Leopold!" Kazin suddenly remembered that he had his scimitar back, and he held it up to ward off the next blow. Raganorn's claymore shattered it, and carved deep through his torso armor, deep into his chest. Kazin screamed in pain. He held up the broken hilt to try to ward off the next slash. The claymore severed his right hand.

"You don't have any idea who you're dealing with either!" Kazin shouted as he used his left hand to try to stem the blood flowing from the bloody stump. "Killing me will make no difference in the long run!"

"Probably not." Raganorn paused momentarily. "But it'll make me feel a lot better." He struck upward in a viscious arc, and Kazin's left arm was struck off. He screamed again. Raganorn jumped high up into the air, then brought the giant sword down hard, splitting Kazin in half. Brains and blood flew everywhere, spattering across Raganorn's arms and face. He didn't seem to notice. "Hmm... Never thought I'd be using one of HIS skills." He observed offhand.

"I never saw Kazin use anything like that." Schala wiped a small drop of blood off of her hand.

"That's not what I meant." Raganorn shook his head. "Forget about it. I'll lose the knowledge in a few seconds, now that I've kept the mission intact again."

"What mission?" Schala gave him a piercing look now.

"I... don't know." As she watched, she saw the bright green color steadily fading from his eyes. Schala felt another magical backlash, and the barrier containing Tempo shattered.

"Let's not sit around here!" He waved his arms. "We've got a score to settle with Moogoo."

"Yes indeed." Raganorn clenched his fist. "I'll make him pay for the deaths of two of my best men!" They quickly walked deeper into the darkness of the castle.

.

"I'm not gonna forgive you!... Never!" - Edge,_ Final Fantasy IV_

(Nanaki's note: Well, I bet you weren't expecting someone who looked like a main character to check out so early, were you? To be honest, I even surprised myself with this chapter when I wrote it. At least it lead to a pretty awesome moment for Schala. And Raganorn, but he's basically nothing BUT awesome moments...)


	10. Moogoo

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 10: ****Moogoo**

By Nanaki

975 A.D.

It was almost too dark to see. Tempo could only make out vague outlines. Raganorn seemed to be leading them, but Tempo didn't even bother to ask if he knew where he was going. Slowly, he became aware of vertical stripes in the darkness. He felt around, and sure enough, they were in the middle of a prison. They were hardly making any noise, so no one who needed help would know they were there. He decided to risk it. "Is anyone there?" He didn't shout, but asked in a normal tone of voice. Only silence answered him. He had a hunch though. "Hey Schala, can I have a little light here?"

"If you think it's worth risking it." She responded. In a few seconds, her hand lit up, and the long corridor was bathed in her strange purple glow. The cells were all empty, except for the occasional pile of bones.

"I wonder where he's keeping the people of Locorn then." Raganorn rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Wait!" Tempo held up his hand. "Did you hear something?"

"What?"

"Quiet! Listen." They all looked down the corridor, listening hard. The silence was deafening.

"Tempo?..." The dim whisper drifted back to them.

"Whoah!" Tempo jumped up in surprise. "What did I tell you?"

"Who would be in here that knows who you are though?" Schala asked him.

"It's probably a trap." Raganorn cautioned, tensing.

"That's true. I guess there's no one who..." Then, his eyes lit up. "Silva!"

"Tempo?!" The voice returned, much more forceful this time.

"I'm here Silva! I'm coming!!" He broke into a run and sprinted down the hall.

"Ssshhhh!!" Raganorn and Schala both started to run after him.

"Well, it's good to see you have some sense at least." Raganorn quickly nodded to Schala.

She made no response. 'If I was alive, I'd probably have a similar reaction.' She thought, somewhat bitterly. Up ahead, Tempo had stopped, and he was talking to someone on the other side of the bars. They got there just in time to hear him tell whoever it was to stand back. His hand began to glow green.

"No, you fool!" Raganorn shouted. "You don't need to-"

"Slam!!" Tempo punched with all his might, and the bars burst out to the side. As the Soultech light faded, Silva ran out of the opening, and into his arms. "Oh, thank god." Tempo said, hugging her closer to him. "I thought I'd lost you." He bent his head down to kiss her, and she responded gladly.

Schala turned away, and had a quick mental debate. 'If I'm going to be jealous, I should at least have a reason. Is there any reason besides the fact that I once dreamed that someone named Tempo is the soul I never travel without? No!' She turned back toward them. 'Yes.' She was attracted to him, although she wasn't sure why. The only guy she had ever really been attracted to was Greven, and Tempo did not have Greven's physique, or his way of looking at things. 'Wait. No one can hear what I'm thinking now. I should at least be honest with myself.' When she got right down to it, she had always been fond of Ertai too, even if she told him and herself he was just too young. Even looking at it that way, Tempo didn't have Ertai's excellent wit, or that unique Vecar way of looking at things. Well, infatuation was a force that didn't listen to reason. She took a good look at Silva now, since she had never met her before. She accidentally said the first thing that popped into her head. "My god, didn't they feed you the whole time you were here?"

Tempo ended the embrace, although he kept an arm around Silva's waist. "Uh, she always looks like this." He said in a nervous tone.

Schala decided it would be best not to say anything else. 'Is that some sort of medical condition then?' She wondered to herself. Tempo nodded a little. 'I thought so.' Schala nodded back. Then, the realization hit her. 'What the hell?!' She looked right at Tempo, but still said nothing. 'Can you hear me?' He didn't reply to her. 'I must have imagined it.' She thought dejectedly. "Sorry." Schala said out loud. "You just look really thin." She walked forward and extended her non burning hand to Silva. "I'm Schala."

"I'm Silva." She shook Schala's hand. "Pleased to meet you, I think. Thanks for the compliment."

'Looking unnaturally thin is a compliment?' Schala wondered. Now Silva really noticed Raganorn.

"Whoah! Who is this fine specimen of a man?"

"I am Raganorn, young lady." He responded a bit gruffly.

"He's also the Soul Master around here." Tempo gently elbowed her in the ribs.

"Oh. Sorry." She said sheepishly.

"Well, I hate to cut the reunion short, but we do have an insanely powerful evil sorcerer to go crush."

"Oh, yes sir!" Tempo responded. He immediately took the lead, to Raganorn's surprise. "Let's keep an eye out for a weapon for Silva."

"Sure thing." Schala said as she extinguished her hand. The hallway was once again plunged into near darkness.

They hadn't been walking very long when they passed out of the prison sector. Tempo immediately stopped. "Whoah! Light again, please." Schala hurriedly ignited her hand. "Will you look at this?" Schala and Raganorn both looked. They didn't see anything special. "What's a gun rack doing in this time?"

"What do you mean "this time?" Silva asked him.

"I'll tell you about everything later. You know how to handle a gun right?"

"Sure. The end that shoots points toward the other guy."

"Good enough." He shrugged, then began to sort through the odd looking weapons. "Oh score! A G-35A grenade launcher!" He pulled the large gun out of the rack.

"You have no idea clue what you're talking about, do you?" Silva teased him.

"No, but it sounded impressive." Tempo examined the barrel. "I do know enough to see that this is a grenade launcher though. Now where's the ammo?" He sorted through a box below the rack, eventually coming up with a smaller box full of what looked like green pine cones to Raganorn. "It's no Soultech, but it'll do if he's off guard. Come on." Raganorn looked at Schala and shrugged. She shrugged back, extinguishing her hand as she did so.

.

Quite a while later, they arrived at the top of a very wide tower. There was no sign of habitation elsewhere in the castle. No light seemed to permeate inside, despite the rather large portals they had seen. Raganorn was fairly sure they were in the center of the castle, and at the top of the stairs, an odd light flowed out from under a heavy wooden door. It flickered, and he began to hear chanting. "Neuga ziono freona wrey... All disciples of Gazuga, receive my offerings!"

"What the hell?" Schala asked. "That almost sounds familiar..."

Raganorn ignored her. He was gearing up for a fight. "Well, ladies and gentleman, I think we've found him."

"Let's go kick some ass." Tempo said calmly, drawing out his mace.

"Stand back." Raganorn warned. He began to concentrate, intent on smashing the door.

"Uh, Raganorn?" Schala stepped in front of him. "I think it's open." She pulled on a heavy iron ring, and the door swung outward.

"Oh." He almost sounded disappointed. "Quiet then, until it's time." They silently walked into the large chamber. Moogoo was sitting quietly in front of a blue portal, crackling with energy. A light breeze blew throughout the chamber, due to the huge windows. Raganorn accepted this visual information in stride. If they were thrown toward the wall, they would most likely go out the window. Not a good situation.

Moogoo didn't move. "So, you finally found your way up here." They all jumped. "After all the noise you made killing Kazin, you thought I was going to be surprised?" Now, he stood up, but still didn't face them. "And you boy, Tempo, I think your name is. I'm not too happy about what you did to Barada."

"You're not too happy?!" Tempo demanded. "We're not real pleased with what you did to Leopold, or what you made us do to Kazin. Where are the rest of the Soul Knights anyway?"

"They've all gone to a better place." Now Moogoo turned to face them, the magic stone in his hands. "And don't jump to conclusions Raganorn. That doesn't mean they're all dead." He kept his eyes on Raganorn for a while, before quickly surveying his other opponents. There was the thin girl the Viashino had captured. She was of no significance, even if he couldn't directly use her for a hostage now. Tempo would be no problem. The Lavoid girl again! "You!" He pointed at Schala. "Your existence is going to end, right now!"

Schala whipped out her dagger. "Try me. I've gone up against worse than you and gone on to fight again."

"But you didn't live, did you?" He pointed at her fiercely, his finger lighting up.

"What?" She hadn't expected that.

"I've never seen anyone living that's missing all of their internal organs. That Lavoid powered stuff flowing through you is the only thing keeping you going, and I know how to deactivate it! Come here!" He opened his hand, and wavy blue beam of energy raced out to Schala. It struck her, then expanded out to surround her completely. It actually hurt, and she screamed.

Tempo had never heard her scream before. He had almost thought she was impervious to pain. It struck a nerve. He charged forward. "Ah-rekka!" He covered the distance between Moogoo and himself surprisingly fast. He swung his mace hard into Moogoo's chest. Moogoo took the full force of the blow, and he was pretty much occupied holding Schala in his snaking blue energy. That gave Tempo time for more. "Rekka!" The next blow impacted on Moogoo's shoulder, and he could swear he heard bones cracking. "Rekka!" That one got his arm, clearly breaking it. The blue energy stopped its assault. Schala collapsed where she stood. Tempo landed on the floor again, tensed, ready to strike once more. "Rekka!!" He landed that one right on Moogoo's head. It felt like he had struck a steel beam. His hands stung badly, but other than that, nothing at all had happened.

Light began to flow from the stone up Moogoo's arms. His broken arm mended instantly. "Are you quite through?" He asked Tempo.

"I get the feeling I am whether I want to be or not." He grimaced.

"That's correct." Moogoo nodded, then lifted the stone high. "Meteo!!"

"Oh dammit, oh dammit, oh-" Tempo was cut off as dozens of blazing rocks rained down on him, literally smashing him into the floor. Somehow, he wasn't killed. Moogoo turned to glare at Raganorn. His simple proximity must have been enough to at least partially negate the spell. But he soon forgot about that. Raganorn's eyes were glowing a bright green.

He slowly drew out his katana, so it made a metallic grinding sound. "I've eaten your kind for breakfast, mage. I'm the greatest soldier who ever lived. Now, for harming Lady El, you will die." Moogoo hated to admit it, even to himself, but this was kind of freaking him out. Raganorn was already a tough customer, and who knew what the green eyes indicated? "Prepare yourself, powerless one! Rothi Strike!" Raganorn rushed forward, punching Moogoo in the gut before he could react. Moogoo doubled over, and Raganorn quickly lifted him up and tossed him into the air. Moogoo flailed his arms, descending back side down. Raganorn thrust his katana high, spinning it as he did. Moogoo's intestines were sprayed across the room, as well as portions of other internal organs and some of his spine. Raganorn blinked the blood out of his eyes, lowered the sword partially, then kicked Moogoo off of it. He fell twitching to the floor. Raganorn wiped his sword off on a clean portion of Moogoo's robes, and sheathed it.

"I don't know... how you gained... this power..." Moogoo whispered, coughing up blood. "But I'm hardly... ...powerless." He smiled. Then, a ghost rose screaming out of the magic stone, and suddenly vanished into vapor. Instantly, Moogoo was back on his feet. There was no trace that his injuries had ever been there. There was no drawn out process of his body slowly reassembling, as was the case with Schala's Nooze. He was simply whole again. "And now that I'm aware of your little trick, let's put some distance between us! Dark holy!!" And ugly black beam of energy erupted from his hand, forcing Raganorn back several yards before he could stand against it. As Moogoo's attack faded, he quickly observed Tempo and Schala. They were both lying on the ground. He decided he had better do something for them. A green glow began to gather around him. Moogoo braced himself.

"Phoenix Flame!" Raganorn shouted. A surprisingly soft colored fire descended on Tempo and Schala, and they slowly got to their knees.

"You wasted your power on them?" Moogoo was incredulous. "You could have come close to finishing me off if you pressed your advantage! I was actually worried! Now, you are less than nothing. Flare!!" The huge fiery blast filled half of the gigantic chamber, throwing Raganorn out one of the windows. He managed to grab onto the edge of the stone, but it crumbled away beneath him.

"I think that takes care of everyone." Moogoo said smugly.

From the opposite side of the room, Silva aimed carefully at Moogoo's head. "Did you forget about little old me?" She pulled the trigger. "That's not a very wise thing to do." Then she smiled as the grenade rocketed toward Moogoo. He heard it coming, and turned to face it, but he was too late. It exploded right in his face, and his burning body was thrown across the room. Black dust flew everywhere as his robes started to burn up. It coated Tempo and Schala pretty good. Then, instantly, the fire disappeared. Moogoo triumphantly held the stone up, and she saw that it was now glowing orange.

"Boy, this thing just has a million uses, doesn't it?" He smiled underneath his mask. "It's next use is going to be to kill you!" He frowned suddenly. "I almost forgot that Raganorn has a little hovering trick. Hold on a second." He folded his hands and concentrated. Suddenly, the tower lurched. Silva stole a quick glance out one of the windows, and saw that the ground was rapidly getting farther away. "Now back to you."

"Fat chance!!" Silva was relieved to see Tempo jump up behind Moogoo, and bring his mace down hard on the sorcerer's head.

"Ugh..." Schala slowly got to her feet. Whatever Moogoo had done, it had really taken a lot out of her. It appeared that she wasn't invincible after all. Then, she realized what was going on. Tempo was tensed a few steps away from Moogoo, covered in a black dust. In fact, even his hair was black. Only his face was somewhat clean, and that was because he had wiped it off first.

Moogoo seemed to grimace, given the way the cloth covering his face moved. "You are either very confident, or very foolish. We will soon find out which!" He slowly drew his sword. Time seemed to slow down for Schala. She looked at Tempo in black, then remembered that phrase. Tempo in black. That phrase. Tempo in black. That phrase. Tempo and that phrase in black.

"Oh God..." She whispered. It couldn't be, could it? Moogoo took one swing at Tempo, and he jumped aside. "He can't die now." She whispered. "Not before I find out." She raised her arms, and they began to glow a bright purple. "Moogoo, you harm one hair on his head, and I'll blast you into Hell, and I don't care if I die doing it!!" She screamed at him. He stopped his advance momentarily to look at her. "Ah well, I will anyway!" She concentrated deeply, gathering all the holy power she could from the magical waves around her. A very large beam of purple energy slammed into him. Tempo took that opportunity to charge forward in his Ah-rekka style. Silva launched another grenade. And suddenly, Raganorn was back in the mix, flying through the closest window, despite their constant ascent, his katana ready to strike.

The two men weren't sure if their weapons connected, and Tempo, Raganorn, and Schala were thrown backwards in the ensuing explosion. When they could see Moogoo again, he was kneeling on the floor. "Crud! You all lucked out, having Raganorn here to save your asses. Next time, you're all toast!" Moogoo stood back up and sprinted for the blue portal they had almost forgotten about.

"You won't get away!!" Raganorn roared. He and Tempo sprinted for the portal, and Silva quickly followed them. Schala stood in place for a minute.

'Should I even bother to go on?' She wondered. 'It probably isn't him anyway.' She walked up closer to the portal, peering at it intently. 'I know what this is... This probably leads to another time.' Suddenly, the tower began to shake, and the floor started to fall away. She could see the ground almost impossibly far below. Despite the fact that she was sure the Nooze would be able to fix her, it made her nervous. 'Ah well, the next time period will be better. How could it be worse?' She stepped into the portal, and accepted the swirling blue.

.

The Epoch pulled out of time warp once again, and Magus quickly glanced around. "It's getting too late to see anything. We should land and wait until morning."

"I've been telling you to land all day." Ertai complained. "Do you have any idea how small a chance there is that we'll not only stumble across the right year, but the right place as well? We need to stay in one place for a while and do some research. Look for oddities in the historical record, you know?"

Before Magus could reply, there was a loud thump on the canopy of the Epoch. "What the hell was that?"

"I didn't see it." Ertai shrugged, a little nervous now. They waited in silence for a few moments. Suddenly, there was another loud thump, then another, and soon it was practically raining them. Once it was apparent that there was no menace about them, Magus peered intently at the canopy to see what they were. "It almost looks like it's raining bricks." Ertai shrugged again. Suddenly, an object about four feet across hit them, and the ship lurched.

"Not always single bricks either. Let's move." Magus pushed forward and the throttle, and steered to the outside of where he estimated the fall to be. Just in time, as he realized when sections about twelve feet across began to rain down. "What's up there?" He peered through the canopy again.

Ertai squinted. "I'm not sure, but I think I'm seeing some sort of blue orb."

"Blue orb?!" Magus demanded. "That's a gate! We're going for it!" He pulled the nose of the Epoch up, and the motors blasted them right at the gate. But seconds before he could reach it, it disappeared.

"Well, so much for that." Ertai sighed.

"Not quite." Magus frowned. "Let's shift again, but arrange it so we warp at the exact spot where the gate was. That should guide us in the right direction at least."

"Sounds better than nothing." Ertai said. "Let's go." Magus flew the ship a fair distance away, then pushed the throttle and time shift lever all the way forward. Their world became a blur as the time warp appeared around them, and they were gone.

.

"I am... still alive..." - Tseng, _Final Fantasy VII_

Nanaki (at age 17, said): Believe it or not, that quote does have significance. Think about it. Now, I hope you all don't mind too horribly much, but I'm going to be pretty lazy on this story in the near future, and concentrate more on my other fanfics, because I'm getting behind. And even if you do mind, you'll have to live with it anyway. Look for a load of "What Makes a Hero" coming your way very soon.

(Nanaki's note: Needless to say, What Makes a Hero is long since complete, and you can read it here or at Icy's. That note about me concentrating on fanfics other than this one is still pretty accurate, unfortunately. Though we've still got another 45 chapters to go until I've posted everything I've got.)


	11. Awfully Familiar

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 11: ****Awfully Familiar**

By Nanaki

Previously Unencountered Time

Tempo slowly opened his eyes, and found himself looking at a blue sky with a slightly pink tinge to it. As he slowly stretched his muscles, he was glad to find that nothing felt broken. He raised his right hand and found that he was still gripping his mace tightly. He reached up with his left hand and pried his reluctant fingers loose. "Master Raganorn?" He called tentatively. There was no response. He slowly sat up, and saw that Silva and Schala were sprawled on the dusty ground not far away from him. There was no one else in sight. But he quickly forgot that concern, because what a sight it was!

They were, at most, two miles from a huge wall that reached thousands of feet into the air, and stretched as far as the eye could see, most likely far past the horizon. He could not see what was beyond it, and only a few sparse trees dotted the rest of the landscape. Now Silva stirred, and he quickly walked over to where she was laying and helped her get to her feet. "Where are we?" She asked quietly.

"I have no idea." Tempo responded.

"Ugh..." Schala's arms moved up to hold her head, but she made no other movement. Tempo and Silva walked over to her.

"What's with you?" Tempo asked, apparently not very concerned. "You're usually the first one up."

"Yeah, rub it in." She groaned. "Moogoo didn't hit you with that blue beam."

"Sorry. Are you all right?" Now he reached his hand down to help her up.

"I'm feeling pretty groggy, but I should be okay." She slowly got to her feet. "Hey Tempo, there's something I want to ask you."

"Sure thing. What is it?"

"I... Oh no." Schala sighed, and then they were all thrown high into the air as a dozen Viashino erupted from the sand.

"Humans, you are outside of your territory." The largest of them began. "However, since this is within the five mile neutral zone, we cannot harm you unless provoked."

"That's good." Tempo began to breathe a sigh of relief. "Because we don't want to fight."

"Glad to hear it." The big lizard said gruffly. "Now throw down your weapons."

"Uh, hold it." Tempo backed up apprehensively. "We have reason not to be too trustful of your kind. We won't strike first, but we'd like to keep our weapons, if it's all the same to you."

The lizards stared at them in amazement. "Uh chief, that statement makes me feel kind of provoked. Does it count?" One of the lesser lizards asked.

"Tempo." Schala whispered to him. He leaned closer to hear better. "They're going to go after us. You and Silva run ahead of me, and I'll be the bait. While they're tearing me up, nail 'em with everything you've got."

"What about you?" He asked, concerned.

"You saw what Kazin did to me, and I'm fine now. Get ready to go."

Meanwhile, the Viashino leader was holding up an electronic device. He seemed to be reading quickly. Then he put the machine away and looked up. "Yes, refusing to surrender arms counts as provocation. Massacre 'em boys!!" The giant lizards leaped forward, charging at the three humans. Tempo and Silva bolted away, but Schala pretended that she had forgotten how to run in her robes. She tripped over them, then fell in a cloud of dust. Instantly, the lizards were on her, and Tempo stopped running.

"Silva, launch another grenade!" Tempo drew out his mace.

"But, what'll happen to her?" Silva's finger hesitated on the trigger.

"Don't argue, just go!" Tempo shouted. Then he ran forward as fast as he could. He swung his mace into the ground, then stopped suddenly. The shockwave continued along the ground, heading for the lizards. Silva finally sighed and launched a grenade. The Ground Swell and the grenade hit at exactly the same time, and it appeared that all the lizards were consumed in the resulting explosion. However, when the dust cleared, one was still standing amid the many charred bodies, whispering hurriedly into a small box. Tempo raced toward him.

"Berreka, our border patrol has been wiped out by a small band of humans! Berreka, do you read me Berreka?! Awp!" He was cut off as Tempo's mace smashed into his neck, easily breaking it. The heavy lizard body fell to the ground with a dull thud. Some of the charred substance on the ground began to move, slowly reassembling.

"Did you hear that?" Schala's voice drifted up from the Nooze. "He said "Berreka," didn't he?"

"That's what I heard." Tempo sighed. Silva was staring, open mouthed, as Schala's body reformed out of the black mess.

"How... How did she...?" She pointed excitedly.

"I'll explain later." Tempo dismissed the concern. "Right now, I think we're in trouble." He turned back toward Schala as he heard the Nooze stop slushing. He was surprised to see her looking as though absolutely nothing had happened. "Wow. That stuff fixes your clothes too?"

Schala looked surprised, as though she had just realized it herself. "I guess so. I'm glad it does, because really, I'm in no shape to be viewed nude right now."

Tempo maintained a straight face, despite the fact that now he couldn't help wondering just what she would look like nude. "I imagine so, with no blood. What's up with you anyway?"

"I'd rather not talk about it yet." She turned away from him, then whirled around and looked him straight in the eye. "I'll do whatever it takes to win, or at least go on to fight another time. I'll always do whatever it takes."

"Yes... I'll remember that." Tempo said calmly. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, a faint whirring sound could be heard in the sky.

"Uh..." Silva began. "This really can't be good." In the time it took Tempo to turn and look, three large shapes appeared on the horizon and roared past them, then circled around again and came to a stop, hovering in the air.

"Wow, they're fast!" Tempo couldn't help but admire the sleek ships. Then he looked closer, and could clearly see Berreka manning the lead ship, munching on what looked to Tempo like a candy bar. "How did you get here Viashino?!" Tempo demanded.

"I should ask the same of you!" Berreka's voice came back clearly. "And stop calling us Viashino. That's just Moogoo's stupid nickname for my brother's forces."

Tempo paused. "Let's see... All right, what should I call you, and, your brother?"

"We call ourselves Komodaera, and Barada was my brother, you stupid human!"

"Uh oh." Tempo gulped, not moving.

"That's right, and I don't appreciate what you and the Lavoid beast did to him." They stood in silence for a few moments, then, "Well, aren't you going to run?" Berreka taunted him. Tempo didn't move. Twin lasers shot out of Berreka's ship. "Run, puny human!"

Tempo slowly turned around. "Uh, ladies, I have a suggestion..." He tensed. "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!!" He broke into a sprint toward the walls of the city.

"You two stay in front of me!" Schala shouted. "I'll be the shield!" Behind them, the three Komodaera fighters roared to life again. Lasers impacted just behind them, and they were thrown into the air, to land hard amid a cloud of dust. They all scrambled back to their feet, and continued to run. Lasers continued to rain around them, but Berreka was still just playing with them, for now.

"We're getting close to the wall!!" Tempo shouted. The Komodaera fighters were circling around for another strafing run.

"How do we get over it?!" Schala called out to him.

"Either we try to find some new power of yours, or... that!" Tempo pointed excitedly. About fifty yards away, half concealed by a pile of junk, another ship sat on the ground, its main door open. It was a lighter color than the Komodaera fighters, and had two sets of wings instead of just one.

"I vote for that!" Schala shouted. They all renewed their efforts, and the next laser blast threw them inside the ship.

Tempo raced up to the front, and immediately began pounding on the control panels. "Quick! How do I turn this thing on?"

"How the hell should I know?!" Schala demanded as the sound of more laser fire came from outside.

Suddenly, there was a loud clicking behind them. Tempo turned around to find himself staring into the barrel of a very large gun. "What's the matter?" A scornful voice drifted to his ears. He didn't take his eyes off the gun. "Surprised a 'synth like me owns his own ship?" Now Tempo looked away from the gun, at the source of the voice. A guy looking to be about 16 stood, barely managing to hold the heavy weapon with both hands. His skin seemed to have a somewhat greenish tinge, and the backs of his hands were dark green. Scanning further, Tempo saw dark green splotches all over his arms.

"Hey man, I don't understand what you're talking about." Tempo raised his arms in the air.

"Yeah right, techie." Tempo found the barrel pressed up against his face.

"Techie?" His voice echoed inside the gun.

The guy sighed. "You're from Soultech aren't you?"

"Well, yeah. But I don't see what that has to do with-" Tempo was cut off as a laser blast impacted right on top of the ship. The guy looked up in surprise. "This situation." Tempo finished his sentence. "We're trying to get away from the Komodaera, and..."

"Komodaera?!" The guy looked surprised now. Another laser hit the ship. An angry expression appeared on his face. "Giant lizards or not, nobody messes with my Skyshroud Ranger!" He dropped the gun and jumped into the pilot's seat, quickly flipping several switches. The engines outside began to hum with power. The junk surrounding the ship blew away. The guy sighed. "Someday, I'm going to have to acquire the firepower to back that statement up."

Schala gave him a funny look from where she was standing. "You mean to tell me that you don't have any weapons on this ship?"

He looked up at her. "Does this look like a fighter? I've got some decent shields, and some really good engines! I'll lose these goons in about three seconds! Watch this..." He pushed a lever all the way forward, just as a jarring impact came from the back of the ship. Nothing happened.

"Watch what?" Schala demanded.

The guy groaned and allowed his head to fall forward, banging on the controls. "Ugh... Next time, remind me to turn on those decent shields of mine." The ship shook some more, then began to descend. He quickly sat back up. "Providing there is a next time. Hold on, because I think we're about to crash." The other three people leaned forward to get a better look out the front. They were drifting slowly forward, and barely cleared the giant wall. Now Tempo could see a huge city sprawling beyond the wall, as far as the eye could see. It was filled with thick buildings, each one many thousands of feet tall. There was a fair amount of space between them, although there didn't appear to be anything in the city identifiable as a road.

They were getting uncomfortably close to one of the taller buildings. "This is not good..." The guy grimaced. He yanked the controls hard to the right, but in its damaged state, the Skyshroud Ranger couldn't cooperate. He narrowed his eyes in the second before impact, then shut them when it happened. They hit the very corner of the building, and continued to move jarringly forward, the left side of the ship crashing through the wall. Glass from the shattered windows rained down on the ground below. Then, the left wings hit something substantially more solid inside the building, and the front end of the Ranger flipped around. Then it left the building, and fell to the ground, spinning wildly. Tempo, Schala, and Silva were thrown to the floor.

Berreka's voice came across a broken speaker inside the ship. "You got lucky clearing the wall Tempo. Next time, you're mine!"

"Ugh..." Tempo sat up, rubbing his head. "Great, just great."

The as yet unnamed pilot peered through the scratched canopy of his ship. "We have to get out of here."

"You see more of those fighters?" Schala asked.

He laughed. "No, they wouldn't dare come inside Lohkiarn. I just don't want to have to pay for that." He pointed up at the wide swathe of destruction the Skyshroud Ranger had made in the building. Then he pressed several buttons and waited expectedly. "Crud. The main engines are completely shot. This is going to cost me a bundle." He flicked one small switch and a slight whirring could be heard. The ship lifted about five feet off the ground, and began to move away from the damaged building. He turned back to face them again. "And since I got you all away from those freakin' lizards, you're gonna help me fix it!"

"Now hold on a minute..." Tempo started

"Oh, don't even start with me techie!" He held up his hand to silence Tempo's protest. "Or I'll just drop your soulfull ass right here, and let you take the rap for that damage."

"On second thought, maybe making a few repairs wouldn't be so bad." Tempo shrugged.

"Okay then. I guess it's time for the formal introductions." He didn't turn from looking out the canopy. "My name's Lionello, but you can call me Lion."

"I'm Tempo." He stepped forward. "And I am in Soultech, but there are some complications you're not aware of."

"Great. Complications." Lion said in an incredibly sarcastic tone of voice. "I can't wait to hear this."

"My name is Schala." She stepped forward now. "I believe that's all you need to know, for the moment."

"Damn straight." He replied. "As soon as my ship's fixed, you're all out of here. Now, mystery guest number three is-?"

"Oh, I'm Silva." She replied nervously.

"Okay, that's everyone. Now let's pick up the pace." Lion flicked another switch, and their speed increased from infuriatingly slow to just a snail's pace. Tempo turned to look around the ship, growing tired of Lion's attitude, but he did hear him grumble, "I can't believe I'm ferrying a techie around..."

.

"Urghh! For the time being, I don't own the skies..." - Setzer Gabianni, _Final Fantasy VI_

(Nanaki's note: Man, I'd forgotten what a huge douche bag Lion was when he first showed up! As you'll soon see though, he has good reason...)


	12. Dead Engines

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 12: ****Dead Engines**

By Nanaki

3500 A.D.

Tempo was practically dozing off in what amounted to a back seat of the Skyshroud Ranger. They had been cruising all over Lohkiarn for what seemed like hours on end now. Lion had stopped to pick up some parts, but they were going someplace else to fix his lousy ship, for no reason Tempo could discern. Silva looked just as bored, while Schala sat stone still, staring vacantly out the canopy.

Suddenly, Lion's eyes widened so much Tempo thought they were going to pop out of his head. He threw open the main door on the side, and jumped out of the moving ship. "What the hell?!" Tempo jumped up. "How do I shut this thing off?" Schala calmly flicked a switch in response, and the whir of the engines ceased. He ignored her somewhat smug expression and jumped out the side door as well. He almost forgot about Lion as he took in the scenery. He was standing directly in front of what had to be the largest building in the huge city. Soultech logos were plastered everywhere, and there was one giant Soultech logo about seven stories high plastered on the front of the building. Tempo immediately felt pride surge in his chest. Then he remembered why he had jumped out.

Lion was standing perfectly still, staring at the main doors of the Soultech building. They were slowly closing, so someone must have just gone through. Tempo walked over to him. "Hey man, what is it?"

"Wishful thinking, I suppose." Lion responded. Then he looked up at Tempo, and his eyes narrowed. "I would suggest that your forget about it."

"You're not even going to give me a clue what that little spaz attack was about?"

"I believe that's what I just insinuated." Lion turned from the building, and jumped back up into the Ranger. Tempo followed him. Lion was already back in the pilot's seat, so he found a place to lean on the wall and glare at him.

"Look, you don't have to be such a dickweed about it. I just wanted to know if there was something I could do." Tempo gave him a dirty look.

"You can start by shutting up." Lion flicked the switch to start the engines again. The Ranger lurched, and smoke poured out of the controls. Lion's eyes widened again, then he turned back to Tempo. "What are you leaning against?!"

Tempo instantly jumped up. "What?" Lion stood up and shoved him out of the way, bending down to peer at the wall. He flicked a bunch of small switches that Tempo had apparently leaned against. The smoke stopped, but the damage was done.

"What is wrong with you?!" Lion demanded. "I'd think you'd never seen a starship before in your life!"

"I haven't." Tempo responded calmly.

"I'm not even going to go into that right now. You think you can find your way back to where I picked up those parts before?" Tempo nodded slowly. "Good, because you're going there." He turned around and seemed to fiddle with the controls for a while, then a small card popped out of the console. He grabbed it and handed it to Tempo. "Give that to the guy there. He'll know what to do, even if you don't. Oh yeah, and you'll probably need someone to help you carry that stuff back."

"I'll go." Schala stood up. She had noticed Silva seemed just a little bit nervous about venturing into a completely unknown city. Everything was unknown to Schala, so she really didn't care. Tempo jumped out the side of the ship, then reached up a hand to help Schala down. She almost grinned at the completely unnecessary gesture.

"Oh yeah, and try to make it quick!" Lion shouted after them. "I don't want to have to sit and stare at the Soultech building any longer than I have to!" Outside, Tempo slowed down.

.

Tempo finally began to smile once the Skyshroud Ranger disappeared from view. "Why does he seem to hate Soultech so much?" Schala wondered.

"I don't have the slightest idea." Tempo shrugged. Then he turned to look at her. "Say, I have a few things I'd like to ask you."

"Like what?" She continued to stare ahead.

"Like how you can be impaled and blown up and still be perfectly fine."

"I'd rather not go into it now." She said dryly, a blank expression on her face.

"Then when would be a good time to go into it?" Tempo began to become a little angry. "Look, you know something about what's throwing us all through time. More than I know anyway, and I don't think that's even the half of it."

"You're right at that." That was all she said.

Tempo grabbed her wrist. "Tell me! What is a Lavoid?"

A very angry expression came to Schala's face. "Let me go!"

"Tell me!" His grip on her wrist only tightened.

"Lavoids huh? Just pray you never have to meet one." She started to step forward again.

"What about the rest?" He pulled her back.

"Let me go, now!!" Tempo was getting angrier by the second, but he could tell this wasn't the way to get through to her. He let her wrist go.

"Look, we've fought together, and we probably saved each other's lives when we were fighting Moogoo. You can trust me."

"I know that." She shook her head. "Trust has nothing to do with it."

"Then what does?"

"Privacy." She responded succinctly. "I've never talked about this since it happened. Unless you're ready for something on the scale of a mental breakdown on my part, I don't think you want to discuss it."

"The fact that you're saying that leads me to believe that wouldn't happen." Tempo sighed. "But if that's how you want it, then I'll go first."

"Huh?" Schala looked up at him now.

"You know that the love of my life was killed about six months ago." She nodded slowly. "Well I believe she was killed by someone who was supposed to be her friend. The son of the leader of Soultech in my time. Ever since, I've been having dreams that seem to prove me right, but I can't get any actual physical evidence."

"Dreams huh?" Schala's mind seemed to wander off right in front of him. "I don't think I've truly dreamed at all... since the night I died."

"What?" Tempo's eyebrows rose in surprise. "So Moogoo was right when he was taunting you?"

Schala nodded slowly. "You got it. I'm dead."

"But..." Tempo trailed off as he realized they had arrived at the parts store. He also realized at the same time that he wouldn't get anything else out of Schala at the moment. He sighed and walked inside. He quickly gave up trying to tell what any of the stuff was. It all looked like a mess of heating coils and TV parts to him. He walked up to the counter and handed Lion's card to the attendant there. Somehow, the card payed for all the stuff it ordered. Tempo had two sacks bulging with metal objects thrust at him. He groaned, until he noticed two straps on the side of each one. He put one on his back and handed the other one to Schala. "How could I have wrecked this much stuff just by leaning against the wall?" He wondered once they were back outside.

Schala actually smiled a little. "From what I've seen, you're very good at wrecking a lot of stuff with a relatively small amount of effort on your part."

He smiled back at her. "Hey, that's what makes me a good soldier, and a good drummer." Before Schala could respond, Tempo noticed five sets of boots marching toward them. He looked up expectantly.

"Is your name Tempo?" The uniformed man in the lead asked. Tempo slowly began to shake his head yes before he realized how stupid a move that was. "I thought so. Come with us please. You're under arrest."

.

"He thinks you are dead, girl... But we know better, you and I. You still want to stick the knife in, don't you? I thought so." - Two Edge, _ElfQuest_


	13. Mecha Madness

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 13: ****Mecha Madness**

By Nanaki

3500 A.D.

Lion leaned back in the pilot's seat, lazily peering out the window for any sign of something interesting. He was sure he had imagined what he thought he had seen in front of the Soultech building earlier. As he had told Tempo, it was mere wishful thinking. Silva was also sitting in a back seat, but she was fidgeting. "You don't need to be so nervous." Lion told her. "The only one I have a problem with is that techie."

"Why do you hate Soultech so much?" Silva was willing to latch on to just about any topic to break the silence.

"I don't believe I'll be going into that right now." Lion didn't turn from the window. "Why are you hanging with trouble like him?"

"I don't have much of a choice at the moment." Silva shrugged. "I know you don't believe it, but we just busted out of a castle in the middle ages, and there doesn't seem to be any way to get home."

"You're right, I don't believe it." He laughed a little. "But I do have a mild interest in the middle ages, so humor me. Which castle was it?"

"Uh... I don't know the name of the castle." She responded uneasily. "Just that it belonged to someone named Moogoo."

"Moogoo?..." Lion looked out the window thoughtfully. "That's uh..." He snapped his fingers. "Yeah! That's Habeeb's little brother! I don't believe for a second that he was in the middle ages though..."

"What the?..." Silva looked at him with an expression of disbelief. "Little brother?"

Then, there was a knocking on the side door. "Oh damn." Lion sighed and got up, then slid the door open. "Is there a problem sir?" Silva saw a uniformed man standing outside the door.

"This is an unregistered ship, son. I'm going to have to ask you to move it outside of the city limits."

"I'm sorry sir." Lion stepped back, and gestured to the spot on the wall where Tempo had been leaning. "But my ship is currently incapacitated."

"I'm quite able to tow your ship outside the city."

"Uh, thank you sir, but-"

"Or you may have to face quite a large zoning violation fine." The man finished.

Lion groaned. "All right, tow away." Then he closed the door.

"You can't just abandon them here!" Silva shouted.

"I'll come back later." Lion grimaced, hopping back into the pilot's seat. "But after those repairs, I'm nearly broke already. I don't have much of a choice."

.

"On what charge?" Tempo instantly demanded. The men in uniform laughed simultaneously.

"Son, you've been wanted for over 1,500 years, ever since Lord Nagar's time." The man in charge informed him.

"What the hell?" Tempo was dumbfounded. "Who originally wanted me?" From all he had seen already, what they were saying was certainly possible.

"I believe it was Nagar's son, Garin." He responded.

"The bastard!!" Tempo shouted.

"But anyway..." The man whipped out some sort of restraint device. Tempo couldn't really tell what it was supposed to be. "We're arresting you now by the authority of Soultech and Lord Habeeb."

"What're you talking about?" Tempo continued to yell. "I'm a soldier in Soultech!!"

"Not according to the records." The men all shook their heads.

"And who is this 'Lord Habeeb?'"

"Ah..." The men all turned and whispered among themselves for a moment before giving him an answer. "The description that might have the most significance to you is that he's Lord Moogoo's older brother."

"Moogoo?!" Tempo involuntarily spat. "You know what? You're not going to take me in."

"I don't think you're giving the orders." The man in charge frowned at him, then whipped out a device that was clearly a type of gun.

"Ground Swell!!" The shock wave of Tempo's abruptly stopped charge sent all the men sprawling to the pavement. The lead officer fired at him, but Tempo jumped into the air, sailing above it. Whatever type of projectile or laser was launched hit Schala right between the eyes, and he gasped, then slapped his forehead as he landed. She winked at him as the Nooze bubbled out of the wound, quickly sealing it up.

"How the hell do you do that?" Tempo smiled in astonishment. "That's all I'm asking."

"Explaining would reveal more than I want to." Schala grimaced. She noticed one of the men had dropped his weapon, and she quickly scooped up the gun. "Now, I think our priority should be getting ourselves out of here." The dust from the Ground Swell was beginning to clear, and several more shots were fired their direction.

"You got that right!" Tempo grabbed her hand, and began to pull her toward the best path of espcape he saw. Two of the uniformed men were running after them, but they weaved between the buildings as well as they could in the long straight stretches, and the footsteps died behind them before too long. Tempo really could not believe the size of these buildings. There were plenty of large cities in his own time, but these immense towers were at least three times the size of the tallest buildings in Locorn. Tempo finally tired out, and stopped to catch his breath. As far as he could tell, Schala wasn't breathing at all. "I think we've lost them." He said in between gasps.

"Yes, and I think we've also lost ourselves." Schala frowned.

"Huh?" Tempo looked up at her, too busy breathing to really pay attention.

"Do you know the way back to the Skyshroud Ranger from where we are now?" She asked condescendingly.

"Uh, no." Tempo realized as he looked around. "Oh well, I guess we'll just wing it and see what happens." He started running again.

"You sure shrugged that concern off quickly." Schala observed.

"It's best not to worry about stuff, unless it's really important." Tempo told her, then went back to gasping for breath.

"So I take it Rena is really important then?" She smiled thinly.

He stopped in his tracks, and she almost ran into him. "How did you find out..." He trailed off as two large shadows appeared above them. A second later, two huge mechanoids, each about 30 feet tall, descended to street level. They consisted of a heavily armored cockpit, with two thick legs supporting them while on the ground, and two arms holding some massive artillery. Missile pods protruded on top.

"Tempo, you cannot escape. Surrender immediately!" A voice was emitted from the nearer of the two mechs. Tempo cursed, then reluctantly put his hands into the air. Schala slowly slid up close to him.

"You doofus!" She whispered. "If you've been wanted for 1,500 years, they're sure not going to kill you now. Stand back." Schala clenched her fists.

"Why, what are you-?" Tempo was cut off as two bolts of lightning flew from Schala's hands, each one impacting dead center into a missile pod on a mech. There were two large explosions, and the mechs vanished into a wall of fire. Tempo's jaw dropped.

"Well, well." Schala smiled down at her hands, which were still glowing with energy. "Looks like I'm getting more powerful all the time."

Tempo was still staring at the wall of fire. So he quite clearly saw both mechs slowly walk out of it, completely unscathed. "But still not powerful enough." He turned and ran once again.

"Yeah..." Schala sighed, looking up. "Don't remind me." Then she ran as well. It appeared the pilots were giving their mechs time to cool down, because the robots did not begin chasing them right away. Tempo sprinted down the long space between buildings, then suddenly came to a stop at the end. "What's the matter?" Schala demanded.

"Nothing. I think we finally got lucky." Tempo pointed to a building across the way that was only three stories tall, although it was still very wide. It seemed highly out of place. "That's a museum. I can tell by the murals on the wall." He began to run toward it.

"What's a museum?" Schala asked as she caught up with him.

"Sheesh, you really are from another planet, aren't you?" Tempo gave her a funny look. "Museum: a place full of artifacts of the past. It's likely to have a fair amount of tourists, and we can hopefully vanish into a crowd of people." They remained silent as they ran around the side of the building, then stopped as they reached the front. There was no one outside, and the windows were dark. There was a small sign hanging on the door. There were a few letters that Tempo couldn't read, but most of the words were ordinary. "Closed for reorganization? No way!" Tempo shouted. "I don't have time for this! Ah-rekka!!"

Schala flinched involuntarily as the metal and glass door burst inward in a shower of shrapnel. "Subtle." She smiled as she viewed the jagged remains hanging off the entrance. "Yeah, they're never going to know we're in here now."

"Can it." Tempo waved that concern aside. "I'm thinking of something else."

"What's that?" She asked in a snide tone. She was starting to enjoy giving him a hard time.

"I said I was thinking of it. I didn't say I had it yet." Tempo wandered off into the darkness. There was enough dim light to see where they were going, so they didn't bump into anything. Tempo found a flight of stairs leading to the second story and quickly went up. "Man, I'm not seeing any useful weapons."

"At this point, I'd settle for a way to get back to the Skyshroud Ranger." Schala sighed, leaning up against one of the larger items. She cried out in surprise as it tipped over with a crash.

"Well, what have you found there?" Tempo peered as he leaned over to help her up.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it." Schala stared at the odd device.

Tempo straightened it up. "I sure have. This is a motorcycle. A big, powerful one at that." She looked at it with a curious expression, so he explained some more. "You just hop on the seat here, jam that throttle as high as it will go, and go riding off at insanely high speeds." Then he sighed. "Yeah, but this thing is 1,500 years old. There's no chance it would work." Suddenly, there was a loud crash downstairs, and the light of searchlights could be seen. "They know we're in here." He groaned.

"Tempo?" Schala picked a sign up off the floor. "You may want to have a look at this."

Tempo picked it up, and his eyes began to widen as he read it. "Due to extreme visitor curiosity, this ancient vehicle is maintained in working order. Our gold status contributors (those who donate over 100,000 annually) may ride it at any time. Just ask the curator for permission." He grinned widely now. "If I didn't know better, I'd say this thing works."

There was a loud clanking, and the top of a mech appeared in the stairwell, floodlights glaring right at them. "I'd say it's our only option right now." Schala held it up.

"Hop on behind me." Tempo patted the seat as he jumped on. The mech was almost at the top of the stairs now, and its weapons were very close to having clear room to fire. Tempo wanted to believe Schala's theory that it wouldn't kill him, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. Schala complied, and almost jumped back off at the loud noise which resulted when Tempo started the engine. The mech was at the top of the stairs now, hunched over so it wouldn't break through the ceiling. Tempo glared at it fiercely. "Hang on!!" He shouted. Any other words he yelled were lost as the motorcycle roared to life.

The mech tried to hunker down lower, but Tempo raced underneath its legs, and on down the stairs. His teeth chattered noisily as the stairs bounced them both around badly. The mech was already turning around, and Tempo speeded up as best he could while being careful not to run into the exhibits. In a matter of seconds, he was bursting out the door. He swore as the second mech appeared right in front of him. He cornered hard, and gunned the motor.

The bike slid out from under him, and they were tossed to the pavement. "Shit!" Tempo cursed more at the sudden pain that coursed through him than their foiled getaway. "Back on, now!!" He shouted to Schala. He barely checked to see that Schala was on before he popped a wheely and roared away down the street. He could feel the thundering steps of the mech behind him, but the bike wouldn't go any faster. Suddenly, a blast from one of the robot's weapons impacted right in front of him. Rather then swerve, he launched off the edge of the newly created crater, and jumped over the rest of impact zone. Now they were on a slight downhill stretch, and the bike was picking up a little speed.

The mech was still running after them. Schala was very nervous at the high speed, but she realized she had traveled much faster than this with Violen. Shuddering anyway, she quickly turned herself around so she was facing backward. "What are you doing?!" Tempo shouted. She didn't answer. Instead, she pulled out the gun she had collected earlier and began firing as rapidly as possible at the main canopy of the mech's cockpit. It continued to run after them for a little ways, but then staggered and crumpled in a tumbling heap. "I see." Tempo smiled. "Good thinking."

Then, the other mech that they had ditched in the museum could be seen charging after them, slowly catching up. "I wonder why they're not flying after us..." Tempo frowned at the sky.

"I think it's what I was saying earlier." Schala shouted up at him over the wind and the roar of the motor. "They probably have orders to bring you in alive. They're thinking that if they try to land right near you, you'll try a sudden change of direction, maybe riding under them. They might roast you with whatever it is that propels them that way. This is a much safer method of pursuit." Tempo mulled that over for a while.

The mech behind them was firing occassionally, but still seemed too far away to really get into it. "Schala?" Tempo asked, barely audible over the wind.

"What is it?" She responded, clutching the gun tightly in her hands.

"Are you having a strong sense of deja vu right now?" He maintained a steady grip on the handlebars, not turning to face her.

Schala paused for a good while. "...Yes." She finally responded. Then, the downhill stretch suddenly became very steep. They could see the road sloping down a long way before them, and apparently the end of the city beyond that. This part curiously had no wall. They could see a long sandy stretch outside the city limits. Sitting just at the start of that was a small speck.

"What is that?" Tempo pointed. Schala craned her neck to look.

"I can't tell yet." She shook her head. Then, with no warning, the road suddenly dropped away beneath them. They fell about twenty feet, landing on the rear wheel only. Tempo was afraid it would explode, but it held, and the bike roared on. Shortly, the path did that again, and again the bike dropped like a stone, but managed to keep going. "We're on some kind of giant stairway!" Schala gasped.

"I know!!" Tempo shouted, then held on for dear life as they dropped another time. They landed at an angle this time, and Tempo had to struggle to keep the bike from tipping over. "But we can hardly go back! We just have to keep going down!" After the next drop, Tempo yelled excitedly. "That speck! That's the Ranger!!" Schala looked closely, and saw that he was right. They were a lot closer to it now.

Their relief quickly vanished as the mech landed with a thud just in front of them. A giant arm swooped down to grab them. Tempo popped the wheel up at the last second, and the bike actually began to race up its arm. "Hold on!!" He shouted, mainly to himself. The bike launched off the missile pod on the mech's shoulder, sending them high into the air. Much too high. Their momentum caused them to miss the next stair, and almost miss the one after that. They fell close to forty feet.

The rear wheel exploded immediately from the force of the impact when they touched down. That small blast launched them off the edge of the stair. There was no hope of landing upright this time. Tempo jumped off the bike as he neared the ground, and tried to use a bit of soul power to keep from being killed by the impact. Despite that, he was still knocked out. Schala observed that they were off the stairway now, and only a few dozen yards from the Ranger. She smiled just before gravity took hold and smashed every bone in her body.

.

"You start worryin' and there's no stoppin' it! Things just start fallin' apart and get worse and worse." - Cid Highwind, _Final Fantasy VII_

(Nanaki's note: I know you had to make several big leaps in logic on order to enjoy this chapter, but if you did, wasn't that awesome? This chapter is probably the best in the initial nineteen, though the upcoming "Late Night TV" is not without its charm. I say initial nineteen instead of twenty because Chapter 20 is one of the best in the entire story. Anyway, if you're thinking that the motorcycle chase here bears more than a passing resemblance to the escape from Midgar in Final Fantasy VII, that's because it's SUPPOSED to. History repeats after all, especially for Elan and El. Oh, and I highly recommend listening to Sephfire's awesome "Speed Limit" (A "Crazy Motorcycle" mix that you can get at OC ReMix) while you read the end of this chapter.)


	14. Fight the Future

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 14: ****Fight the Future**

By Nanaki

3500 A.D.

"Well." Lion calmly looked out the window. "Looks like I won't have to go back for them after all."

"What a fall!" Silva exclaimed. "Is he... dead?" She turned away from the cloud of dust rising around Tempo's still form.

"Could be." Lion shrugged indifferently. "But since he's a techie, I doubt it." Then, Lion's eyes bugged out as the mech landed between the Ranger and Tempo. "What the hell?! Why is a Cathodion B-15.osp after your friend?!" He whirled on Silva. "You guys are REALLY from 1995?"

"That's what I told you." She responded calmly, not really understanding his sudden excitement.

"Holy shit!" Lion banged his fist on the window. "He's THE Tempo?! Looks like I need to go save his ass." Lion quickly jumped outside. Silva still didn't know what his problem was, but she wasn't about to stop him from helping Tempo.

The mech was beginning to scoop Tempo up in its huge arms, when Lion shouted up at it. "Hey, I think you'd better put him down, right now!!"

The mech stopped and turned to face him. "Who are you to give me orders?" A voice drifted out. "Get out of here, you worthless 'synth!"

"Well, now you've done it." Lion began to grin. An eerie yellow light began to radiate out from him. "You've gone and made me mad." At the sight of the glow, the mech took up a defensive position. "I'm not just a common 'synth, I'm a prototype!"

"Liar!!" The mech pilot roared. "The only prototype not accounted for is..." His voice suddenly got much quieter. "Lionello?"

"In the flesh." Lion's grin broadened. "In all these years, you're actually the first one to ever realize who I am. Now, I certainly can't let you live with that knowledge." His glow brightened noticeably.

"Screw that!!" The pilot shouted. The Cathodion fired all its lasers at once, as well as its remaining missiles. Lion vanished in a huge burst of energy. But when the smoke cleared, he was unscathed, floating about fifteen feet in the air. "I-I'm warning you..." The pilot gulped nervously. "I'll notify Jaguarena."

"She'll never know what happened here." Lion responded icily. He stretched one finger out, and a huge blast of bright yellow energy sheared off one of the mech's arms.

"Wait! I was only following my orders! I'll do whatever you want!" The pilot stammered desperately.

Now a yellow glow radiated from Lion's eyes. "Too bad for you, all I want is for you to die." He stretched both arms out, and brought his palms together, with his fingers spread apart. "Aaaiieee-yaaahh!!" A massive yellow explosion engulfed the Cathodion. When it vanished, all that remained was a pile of melted scrap. "Heh, heh, heh." He slowly floated back down to the ground. Then he walked over to where Tempo lay in the dirt. "Tempo? Hey man, can you hear me?"

"Uh... Is he okay?" Silva called from the ship, now definitely not sure what to make of Lion.

"He's breathing, but he's out cold." Lion responded. He noticed the bag full of parts Tempo had strapped on, and quickly picked them up and tossed them over to Silva. "Start unloading those. After an explosion like that, we probably have five minutes max until the Komodaera notice and come around to have a look."

"Five minutes?" Silva gulped. She picked up the parts and ran back inside. Now Lion walked over to where Schala was laying in the dirt.

"Well, looks like you weren't as lucky." He said dryly. There was no sign of breathing, and he couldn't feel a pulse.

"Says who?" Schala lifted her bag of parts out of the dirt, leaving her eyes closed. She could just imagine the expression on Lion's face. As she opened her eyes, her suspicions were confirmed. He was staring at her, his mouth working, but making no sound. "If we've only got five minutes, you better get to work."

"Uh... Uh, yeah." He picked up the parts and ran back inside. Schala slowly sat up and surveyed where they were. The giant set of stairs they had haphazardly descended stretched high into the air above them. At the top of that, huge buildings reached skyward almost as high as the eye could see.

"Big enough for a Weapon to play in." Schala smiled to herself. She noticed Tempo sprawled in the dirt and started to drag him over to the Ranger. She was right at the door when she noticed three shapes in the sky, rapidly approaching their location. "Lion, are you almost done?" She called inside.

"Not even close!" He responded rather calmly. "Why?"

"We're about to have company! Berreka's back!!" Schala finally hurled Tempo up into the ship, jumped in after him, and slammed the door shut.

Lion got up from where he was fiddling with circuits in the wall, and ran to the front of the ship for a second. He flicked a few switches, then went back to work. "Shields up this time." He smiled at Schala's curious glance. "That should buy me a few more minutes." He rapidly tore out broken parts and slammed new ones into place. "Communications are fixed. Fat lot of good that does us at the moment." He grumbled.

Berreka's voice could be heard now. "Well, you're back for more surprisingly soon. You won't escape this time!"

"That's what you think!" Lion shouted to the air. He picked up the wall panel and slammed it back into place, hiding the mess of wires that obviously still needed some work. He maintained a smile even as multiple laser blasts began slamming into his shields. "My engines are operational! Eat my exhaust, suckers!" He hopped into the pilot's seat and rammed his fist into a large lever. It went all the way forward with a grinding sound, and they were suddenly being hurled through the air at a blinding speed. "Damn. We're still real slow here." Lion said sadly.

"This is slow?" Schala asked, not believing it. "I don't think I want to see fast then."

"We're slowly getting up to maximum speed, which is just slightly faster than light..." He trailed off as one of the Komodaera fighters flew up next to them, close enough so that they could see his grinning face through the window. It was Berreka.

"Don't think you'll escape Habeeb that easily!!" He laughed. "You can't outrun us!" Then he slipped behind the Ranger, and began to fire.

"Those must be some powerful weapons they're packing. Our shields are decreasing rapidly." Lion reported.

"You really don't have any weapons on this ship to fight them with?" Schala still couldn't believe it.

"None." He shook his head in frustration.

"What about those powers you used earlier?" Silva asked him.

"Who's going to keep us from getting blown up while I'm charging up? You?" Lion almost laughed. "Sorry, but I gotta fly."

Schala thought for a moment, then she came close to smiling. "Where's that gun you were pointing at Tempo earlier?"

"It should still be sitting in the back there." He responded. "Why?"

Schala did smile now. "Got any rope?"

.

Magus peered ahead intently as the swirling colors of time warp faded. His eyes widened with surprise as four objects roared by not very far in front of them. "What was that?!" Ertai exclaimed.

"Looks like just more of those ships we've been seeing." Magus said, disappointed. "They keep getting faster as the years go by, but that's about the only difference I'm noticing."

"No..." Ertai frowned. "There was something special about that group. Follow them."

"I don't recall you being the one in charge of this operation."

"I also don't recall me NOT being in charge." Ertai asserted. "Just follow them at the highest possible speed without warping!" Magus grimaced, but pushed forward, and the engines roared to their maximum normal power.

.

Schala was having a blast, literally. She aimed the gun at Berreka's right wingman, and fired again. The Komodaera fighter slowed momentarily, then raced right back up. 'I can't believe this.' She thought to herself. She was flying through the air, a rope tied around her waist leading back into the Ranger. She was being jerked through the air so roughly it was very hard to aim, but she didn't care at the moment. 'I'm actually enjoying myself.'

It seemed pretty weird, and downright mean. All of her life, Schala had never had a mean streak, except when it came to Lavos. There had never been a reason to be vicious or unforgiving. But these lousy Komodaera were trying to kill them, for what seemed like the hundredth time. She lifted the gun up to take aim again, and noticed there was a knob on the back. 'Emergency power booster?' She read the label, not quite understanding.

When she figured it out, she laughed out loud. She turned the knob all the way up, and the red laser glow at the end became much brighter. "Choke on this, you damn reptiles!!" She shouted, and proceeded to literally spray them with huge blasts of laser fire. She managed to hit one of the engines on the left wingman's ship. It exploded, and he went spinning toward the ground below, totally out of control.

.

"Holy! Did you see that?" Ertai shouted.

"I sure did." Magus nodded quietly. "You know, that really could be almost anyone, but I'm starting to get a feeling..."

"What did I tell you?" Ertai elbowed him in the ribs. "Now, let's help them out. Where's that button for the lasers you said Dalton installed?"

"Right here." Magus pulled a lever, and a compartment in the controls popped open. A big red button was glowing inside.

"All right!" Ertai grinned. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

.

Schala was practically deaf from the roaring of the gun, when it stopped. There was no more glow at the end of the barrel. She turned around to look at the knob. 'Out of power? Oh da-' Her inner curse was cut off as a blast from Berreka's ship hit her right in the stomach. It left a gaping hole, and she was almost blown apart. Schala began to pull herself back toward the ship. Even the Nooze couldn't put her back together if the pieces were hundreds of miles apart. At the speed they were going, that would be just what happened.

She chucked the gun inside, then chucked herself in after it just as another burst of fire from Berreka slammed into the shields. This one was enough to break through, and the floor right behind Schala erupted into a shower of sparks. She ran back up toward the front, lightly stepping over Tempo's still form along the way. "Shouldn't he be waking up pretty soon?" She asked Lion.

"Beats me." He shrugged. "That's not important now. I take it you used up the charge in the gun?"

"You might say that." Schala grinned.

"Well, you managed to take one of them down, but now there's another ship coming up behind us. We're still not close to maximum power. We can't get away, and our shields are at about twelve percent." He looked up at her. "I'm open to suggestions."

Schala quickly scanned the control panel, and her eyes came to rest on one small switch. "Scramjet booster?"

Lion shook his head. "No way. That's an emergency engine booster, but it's designed for the two engine model. With four engines, the effects are entirely unpredictable. Every ship of this type that's tried to use it has been destroyed."

Another blast from Berreka broke through the shields. "I'd rather we destroy ourselves than be destroyed by them!" Schala jammed her finger into the switch.

"No, don't!..." Lion trailed off as their world became a swirling mass of blue.

.

"All right, we're in range, and I've got a lock. Let's take them down!!" Ertai rammed his fist into the glowing button, and the laser turrets of the Epoch roared to life. The fighter they were following promptly vanished into a large fireball. They could clearly see the ship that was being pursued now. "Whoever was out there shooting earlier went back inside." Ertai stated the obvious.

"Worry about that later." Magus told him. "Right now, worry about destroying that..." He lost his train of thought as the ship suddenly vanished into a speck of blue light in front of them. In less than two seconds, it roared past them from behind, then abruptly vanished in a blue flash. "They just time warped!!" Magus shouted. "We're following them!"

Ertai nodded, but sent one more blast of laser fire at the remaining enemy fighter. He hit dead center, and the rear of the fighter erupted into flames. Then, his view blurred as Magus hit the time warp button, aiming for the spot where the other ship had disappeared.

.

"Ugh..." Lion sat up from where the sudden acceleration had thrown him to the floor. "Hey, are you guys all right?" Schala was already sitting up, and Silva was leaning against the wall, rubbing her head.

"Yeah, we're okay, but Tempo's still out of it." She reported, discouraged.

"Where the hell are we?" Lion stood up, holding onto the back of the pilot's seat for balance. Peering out the canopy, he at first only saw, dark, swirling clouds of mist. In a few moments, the mist partly cleared, and he saw a stone walkway leading away from where the Ranger was resting. "I'm going to go outside to see if I can get us airborne again. Let Tempo sleep off his landing here, and let'sd try to find out where we are."

Lion opened the door, and found the stone walkway leading directly up to it. He started walking down the walkway, and saw a circular platform in the distance. He couldn't see anything else, as the mist obscured it all. He walked up to the platform, and found an old fashioned fence about waist high running around it. There was a gate, and it made a creaking sound as he opened it. "Well, well. Now this is a surprise." Lion jumped back at the sound of an old man's voice coming out of the gloom. "I haven't had any visitors for a very long time. Welcome, to the end of time."

.

"I'm just not as bloodthirsty as Schala is."

"Few people are." - Lucca and Marle, _The Trials of the King_

(Nanaki's note: Ertai and Magus - History Wrecking Idiots. Really guys, blasting an unknown ship out of the sky is a pretty strong reaction to a "feeling". Though I've gotta say, that probably IS in character for Magus.)


	15. Dark Dealings

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 15: ****Dark Dealings**

By Nanaki

Timeless

The air practically burned deep in the bowels of the planet. The cave was stinking hot, the air rippling with the heat. Pools of molten rock bubbled on the side, but the center of the wide chamber was empty, for the moment. Gazuga was sweating under his mask. He quickly fumbled with the environmental controls on the outside of his combat suit, and sighed with relief as it dropped to a freezing cold. It was strange to think of it as a combat suit, really. Gazuga never wore anything else. He stopped just at the beginning of the wide empty space, and stretched his arms high. "Master, I heard you summon me. I have come." He stated simply.

Almost instantly, cracks appeared in the wide space, and lava began to bubble out of them. Before long, the compound spikes of a Class B Lavoid thrust through the rock, and on up into the ceiling, throwing chunks of rock and lava everywhere. Gazuga winced as some of the projectiles barely missed him. "Please be careful master. I'm still weak enough to be harmed by such intense heat." He said apologetically.

The five pronged eye pod of the Lavoid popped open with a sound like a knife stabbing into soft flesh. The trademark eerie blue light poured out, mixing with the orange of the chamber to flood everything with a bizarre purple shade. "Not for long I hope." The Lavoid responded vocally.

"So, you have learned how to speak." Gazuga nodded in approval. The "eye" of the pod disappeared, and it opened wider. A humanoid being around six and a half feet tall walked out. He had a basic human shape, but blue skin, no nose, and hard spikes in place of hair. He also had small spikes protruding from his back that Gazuga was willing to bet were for more than decoration.

"Seeing as I spend so much time conversing with humans, it seemed like a useful skill to pick up." The Lavoid responded neutrally.

"Anyhow lord, why have you summonded me?" Gazuga asked with geniune curiousity.

"I've had a number of heroic "visits" as of late." The Lavoid's eyes narrowed. "This gives me suspicion that Rofellos may be here, in living form."

Gazuga simply nodded. "Indeed, Leng confirmed that fact for me before he and my other sons defected."

The Lavoid whirled on him in anger. "You have known for all this time and you did not inform me?!"

"It is of no consequence lord. This is his "lifetime off," and from what I've seen, he's just pleasing himself with total self indulgence. He poses no threat to you."

The Lavoid frowned. "If he does not, who does?"

"Elan, El, and Rez have all been fighting my sons, without realizing how foolish this action is." Gazuga smiled a little. "Despite that display of stupidity, they actually managed to defeat Moogoo, although only with the efforts of all three combined."

"I don't see how any of those pathetic weaklings could pose a threat to me. None has even reached the thousand mark. Elan and El couldn't even stand against my father. How could they possibly stand against ME?!" With the last word, the cavern shook, and chunks of rock fell from the ceiling. Gazuga winced again.

"Lord, El, Schala I mean, is still in a severely weakened state. Her power could grow exponentially were she to recover. Also, Leng looked into the information on Elan's Tempo form way back when he was still with me. Given the amount of power his mother wielded, he could become as powerful as Schala, perhaps moreso. And we already know how much power Rez gained as Sephiroth."

"That was only a gift of Jenova!" The Lavoid protested. "She made a mistake putting all her power into one last gamble. That is why I have not given you any of my power, although you show all indications of deserving it so far."

"I understand lord." Gazuga bowed. "I only mean to say that the potential for threat exists. The threat is not there yet."

"I see." The Lavoid thought for a minute. "You say your sons are fighting them? Why?"

"They do not yet realize that they are all on the same side. Even Leng, who should know better, is making efforts against them. After they defeated Moogoo, the battle turned personal, and now Habeeb has been drawn in as well. It is only a matter of time before Leng joins them."

"Such a waste, when they could be so much more effective under our guidance." The Lavoid smiled.

Gazuga looked up at him, surprised. "You have a plan." He guessed the Lavoid's intentions.

"Yes. If Moogoo and Habeeb are both in the same time and place now, it will be exceptionally easy to bring them back here, where our particular brand of persuasion will be well received."

"Heh." Gazuga couldn't help but smile. The Lavoid didn't mean to be funny. As far as he knew, Lavoids didn't have a sense of humor. But some of his phrases could be quite amusing. "But what of Leng? He will not be so easily captured."

"I believe your daughter can be of service in this area."

"My... daughter?" Gazuga almost seemed reluctant for a second. "What possible use could she be to us? She is too weak to-"

"Leng's concern for her will prove to be his undoing. She is of no concern to me. She cannot stand against me, nor can she be of any great use. I would get rid of her, but that might make for some small sign of reluctance on your part."

"Never lord!" Gazuga dismissed that concern.

"So you say, but I've found that humans are quite attached to their offspring, for some odd reason. I will let her live, but only as long as she does not join forces with the heroes."

"You are too generous master." Gazuga bowed again.

"That may well be." The Lavoid began walking back into his shell. "Our primary concern now is Moogoo and Habeeb. If we can arrive right as they're battling Elan and El, we may be able to fry two birds with one flame."

"Ah, about that lord." Gazuga held his hand up. "I'm afraid they've managed to get out of the "future" time."

"That is of no concern." The Lavoid shook his head. "El's pride will force her to return to face Habeeb, and I know where she goes, Elan goes. Now, get ready to depart." The Lavoid walked back into his shell, and the front pod snapped shut. There was an intense rumbling for a few seconds, then the shell vanished back into the huge lake of bubbling lava. Gazuga turned up his cooling device again.

"Let my daughter live after Leng is captured?" Gazuga tugged on one of his gloves, to make it fit more tightly. "I wonder if that is a wise move, master. I would not."

.

Nanaki (at age 17, said): In honor of this being only the second story I've done to reach a Chapter 15, I'm leaving it quoteless, just like Mount Woe Chapter 15. Also, I'm just about out of good quotes that I'm not saving for later on. It's time to empty those quote bags again people! Send me the best you've got, because my quote generating brain is running on fumes! Stay tuned for more Chapters in very short order.

(Nanaki's note: Needless to say, you'll see a LOT more chapters for this story in short order. Also, I'm not in any particular need of quotes right now, but if you've got some you want to share, knock yourself out.)


	16. The End of All Eras

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 16: ****The End of All Eras**

By Nanaki

The End of Time

Tempo was crying his eyes out. He didn't care who saw him. In fact, he hoped people would see. He was only four years old, and his mother was dead. He wanted to cry this news to the whole world. Most of all though, he just wanted his mother back. Let Garin's ransom go unpaid. Let the assassins kill Lord Nagar. He didn't care about them. They were worthless. Why did she die? Other people walking by the front of the hospital paused to look, but no one stopped to talk to him.

Then, slowly, Tempo felt himself starting to drift back to the waking world. He wasn't four years old, he was eighteen. He began to realize this, and his tears stopped. But then, the hospital vanished, and his mother stood before him. "Why did you let me die?" She asked in a hoarse whisper.

"What?" Tempo was taken aback. "What could I have possibly done?"

"Even back then, you had the power to stop this. But you were too afraid."

"Of course I was afraid! So were you!" He shouted, feeling tears forming again.

"You shouldn't have been. Not with all your power." She glared at him.

"I was only four-"

"Coward." Her image began to vanish.

"No, I..." Tempo sank to his knees. "Mother, please! Don't leave me like this!"

"Coward." She said again simply, then disappeared.

"No!! Mother!!"

* * *

"Well, uh, I guess he's awake now." Lion stared over at where Tempo had suddenly sat up, wide eyed and screaming. Schala regarded him for a minute with a curious expression. Lion quickly walked over to where Tempo was sitting on the cobblestones, staring blankly, and waved a hand in front of his eyes.

"Hey Tempo. I know it may not seem like it with this background, but you're awake now, all right?"

"I know that!" Tempo snapped angrily, standing up. "It was just a bad dream, that's all."

"I'm not surprised." Lion dismissed the rudeness like it was nothing. "You've been out of it for quite a while."

Tempo calmed down enough to take in his surroundings. "I guess so. Where are we?" He squinted, trying to see through the mists.

"I think you better ask him." Lion pointed to where an old man was leaning against a round pillar, with a tall flame burning at the top. It was the only real source of light in the gloom. The man was dressed in some very odd clothing that seemed to defy description. Strips of red and white intersecting at random angles characterized what looked like a long robe.

"Greetings, Travelers." He said formally. "My name is Keldon, and this is the end of time."

"The end of time?" Schala asked nervously. "Then, how can anything still exist?"

Keldon chuckled a little. "My dear, the end of time is by no means the end of everything. Some new system has come along and replaced time. We, being four dimensional creatures at best, simply cannot comprehend existence without time, and thus, fail to see any results of the new system. All we see is this fog."

"Okay then." Schala faked a smile. She hadn't understood much of that. "Could you possibly tell us how we ended up here?"

"That is quite simple." Keldon nodded. "Somehow, that ship of yours increased to a sufficient speed to enable time warp. However, since it had no other time signature to latch on to while warping, it automatically went to the time coordinates of least resistance. Namely, here. The end of time."

"So, you're basically saying that the ship came here because it didn't know where else to go?" Lion ventured a guess as to what Keldon's "simple" explanation meant.

"That's correct." Keldon nodded.

"Hold it!" Tempo held up his hand. "We somehow managed to travel through time, without one of those blue portals?"

"Yes. Any sufficient speed above light will cause some distortion, and if the acceleration is rapid, full blown time travel will usually result. Now," Keldon gave them a stern look. "I know you're all set to go ripping back and forth through time, but you should really return to your own time before too much time has passed."

"We're not all from the same time." Lion told him.

"Oh." Keldon shook his head sadly. "In that case, it's already far too late."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Tempo shouted. "You mean we can get home from here?"

"Yes." Keldon nodded simply. "You see those lovely pillars of light over there?" He pointed to another circular platform, with three glowing pillars of light in the middle of it. "All times connect here. Those pillars will automatically sense what times you are from, and adjust in a few moments to lead you back there. Others will simply respond to other periods you have visited, and maintain steady gates there."

"That's more than I needed to hear!" Tempo shouted, smiling. "C'mon Silva, let's get out of here!" He grabbed her hand and raced up to the second platform.

"Hold on a minute!" Schala gave him a demanding look. "What about the Lavoid?!"

"Lavoid?" Keldon looked up, surprised. "Oh dear..."

"Screw the Lavoid, whatever the hell it might be!" Tempo shouted. "Schala, I've been brave through this whole ordeal, but I haven't come anywhere close to enjoying it. If I can go home, I'm going. You can come along, or you can continue a search you obviously have no idea where to start." With that, Tempo stepped into the glowing pillar of light, Silva close behind him. They rocketed up into the fog and disappeared, glowing sparks trailing behind them.

"Damn it!" Schala slammed her fist on the rickety old fence, and it clattered noisily. "I can't do this alone! I never could..." She sighed and ran up to the pillar as well, then jumped inside.

Keldon looked at Lion. "What about you?"

"Well, I should be glad to have them all out of my hair, but..." Keldon didn't finish the sentence for him. Lion paused awkwardly. "But, I am concerned about my ship. I'm not going anywhere without it."

"If you try to leave in the same manner you arrived in, there's no telling what time you may end up going to." Keldon told him sternly.

"You mean there's no way I can control where I go?" Lion's eyes widened.

"Not without some serious modifications." Keldon maintained a neutral expression.

"I see." Lion grinned. "I don't suppose you would know how to make these "modifications," would you?"

"Certainly." Keldon nodded.

"And how much would that be costing me?"

"For Lionello and the ones who just tore Moogoo a new one, nothing at all." Keldon winked at him.

"Uh..." Lion's mouth was working with no sound again. "I think I"ll just hang around with them until it's ready." Lion smiled weakly, than ran up to the platform and jumped into the pillar.

"Heh, heh." Keldon chuckled again. "You do that."

.

Schala blinked at the sudden difference in darkness. The sky was filled with stars, and there was a small sliver of moon in the sky. In the darkness, she could faintly make out landmarks that reminded her of the middle ages, but there were some significant differences as well. Then, she heard Tempo's excited shout. "Hot damn, we're back!"

.

"I... I'm home." - Shinji Ikari, _Neon Genesis Evangelion_


	17. Late Night TV

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 17: ****Late Night TV**

By Nanaki

1995 A.D.

"Not only are we back," Tempo shouted, "but we're only about a half a mile from my house! That guy is good." There was another flash behind them, and Tempo turned back to see Schala and Lion vaguely in the darkness. "Oh yeah. What am I going to do with you guys?"

Silva smiled thinly. "Yeah, good luck with that Tempo. I'm going home."

"I can't say that I blame you." Tempo nodded to her. "Go right ahead." Silva turned and ran off into the darkness without a glance back at them. He turned back to Schala. "Well, I'll try to smuggle you guys in past my dad, but I can't promise anything yet. Now stay quiet." Tempo slowly walked back up the steps to his house. He was very glad to be back in his own time, but not that overjoyed to be going back here. Maybe he could go over to Sowell's house... No he didn't want to hear any bitching about missing practice at the moment. He reluctantly went up the steps to his house and started to search for the fake rock that held the spare key.

"Hold it right there." A flashlight suddenly shown in his eyes. As Tempo blinked the blindness away, he saw a police officer was holding the light. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Hey man, this is my house." Tempo held up a hand to ward off the light.

"You're Tempo?" The cop asked like he didn't believe it.

"That's right. What's the problem?" His vision finally cleared to a reasonable degree.

"You're father filed a missing person report on you several days ago. Where have you been?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Or you would, but you'd think I was on acid or something." Then Tempo glanced around, and noticed there were no lights on in the house. "Hey, where is my dad?"

The cop shrugged. "Business meeting, I think. He said he'd be gone for about a week."

"Figures." Tempo folded his arms. "So you gonna bust me for something or what?"

The cop shook his head. "Doesn't look like it. You're your dad's problem now. I'll go notify the station that the search has been called off." He turned off the flashlight and walked off down the road.

"Well, I guess you guys can come on inside." Tempo said to the darkness. Schala and Lion appeared out of it. "Lion, there's a guest bedroom downstairs that you can use. Schala, you can take my dad's, I suppose." He unlocked the door and went inside. As soon as the door was shut and he took off his shoes, he almost seemed to forget that they were there. He went off into the kitchen and came back with some sort of cream filled cake in a plastic wrapper. He walked into the living room and jumped down onto the sofa, then picked up the TV remote. Schala and Lion uneasily followed him around in what, to them, was a strange house. He momentarily turned and looked back up at them, chocolate crumbs and cream filling already smeared around at the corner of his mouth. Schala smiled. "TV?" He asked them, then glanced at a clock hanging over his fireplace. "It's only about 12:30 in the morning, so it won't be all infomercials yet."

"TV?" Lion raised his eyebrows. "I've heard about this exceptionally low brow form of entertainment, and, no thanks. I think I'll go ahead and get some sleep." He wandered off to find the guest bedroom downstairs.

"TV?" Schala asked curiously.

"Short for Television." Tempo explained offhand. It almost sounded as though he was starting to enjoy explaining things to someone who had never seen them before. "Moving pictures and sound formed out of electricity." He picked up the remote and turned it on. Schala sat down next to him on the sofa. "Most programs are shown in half hour segments. The best ones are on once a week, with crappier or older ones "in syndication" on every day." He sighed. "Unfortunately, they're interrupted about every ten minutes by these..." He turned the volume up. "Commercials."

The TV shouted at them. "At Honest Ron's Used Cars, we're having our annual 85 percent off sale! Really!" Tempo turned the volume back down.

"People buying advertising time to promote their own products." Schala looked confused. "Don't worry. If you spend much time here, you'll understand real soon. Now, the best way to watch TV during late night hours like this is to channel surf."

"Channel surf?" Schala was actually paying rapt attention to this. Tempo smiled.

"Sure. You watch every channel you get for about three seconds. Observe." Tempo pointed the remote at the TV again, and the picture changed.

"Whiz-O-Clean lifts stains right out-" Click.

"The new three for three special at McDinkle's-" Click.

"New MicroSquish: Curtains '95-" Click.

"It's Late Night with Icy O'Brian! Tonight with guests Hironobu Sakaguchi, Supermodel Tifa Lockhart, and musical guest Neverclear! With Nanaki Richter and the Samantha Arthur seven!-" Click.

"You stayed on that one for longer than three seconds." Schala observed.

Tempo laughed. "Yeah, that's actually a good show. I'll go back to it after I check some of the other channels."

Schala studied him for a minute. He seemed awfully laid back all of a sudden. Of course, he was in his own home now, and there was nowhere he would feel safer or more secure. "You know, I'm actually feeling pretty tired." She told him.

He shrugged. "Well, there's no rule that says you can't zonk out right on the couch."

"Zonk out?" Another puzzled expression came to her face.

"Go to sleep." He explained without the faintest hint of impatience.

"Well, I don't want to miss anything." Schala turned back to the TV. Tempo changed the channel again.

"We've got a great show lined up for you tonight. For once, the entire cast is sober."  
"Uh, Icy?"  
"What's up Nanaki?"  
"Um... I thought that was tomorrow night."

He smiled softly. "Don't worry. You won't."

.

"Well, well. This is a fairly compromising position to find you in." Tempo opened his eyes to find sunlight streaming in the living room windows. His vision was still all blurry, so he couldn't see much else yet. Over half of his extremeties were asleep. He used his right arm to yank up his left arm, which would not respond. He slammed his left arm against what he thought was the back of the couch. Just as he had thought, there was no feeling at all. He began shaking it to get the blood flowing.

"Huh?" He felt someone moving, and realized that Schala had been leaning on him. Great, nothing like a night with no blood circulation to make you feel good in the morning. On the other hand, there was nothing a like a night spent with a girl either. It balanced out in his mind. He sat up and saw that the TV was still on, now turned to "Good Morning Locorn." He found the remote and clicked it off.

"Yeah, I guess we both dozed off out here." He finally responded. Lion dropped down into a large chair, observing them with amusement. Tempo began shaking his left leg as well.

"Let it sleep." Lion told him. "The faster the blood rushes back in, the more uncomfortable it is. Believe me, I've slept in the chairs in the Ranger often enough to know."

"I don't think... Ow, augh, ow!" Tempo stood up, and began limping around. "That ain't pleasant." He limped around the living room until he came face to face with fancy digital clock. He narrowed his eyes at it for a second. "It's Saturday! I've got things to do here!" He began to limp toward the door, then stopped. "But first, I'm going to take a shower and get out of these clothes that I've been in for a week." He shook out his leg and ran upstairs.

"Well, that's fine for him." Schala rubbed her eyes. "What are we supposed to do?"

"You should probably look for some food." Lion shrugged, then turned to look out the window.

"I might, but it's pointless. I don't need food."

Lion looked at her with surprise. "Well, welcome to the club then." Then he turned back to the window. Schala wasn't sure what to make of that. After what could have been ten minutes at most, Tempo reappeared downstairs. He had on a shirt similar to what he had been wearing before, but now he had on some thick camouflage pants made of a very tough material, with more pockets than could ever be used. "That was fast." Lion observed.

"That's me, master of the four minute shower." Tempo bowed facetiously. He picked up a set of keys seemingly from nowhere, and headed for the door. "I need to get over to Sowell's. He's my best bud." He turned back to look at them. They hadn't moved. "Schala, you're coming with me. Lion, you might as well too, since you don't have anything better to do." Then he ran out the door.

Lion turned to Schala. "You ARE going with him, but I just "might as well?" Guess you rate a lot higher on his list."

Schala shrugged. "Well, you did stick a huge gun in his face not too horribly long ago. C'mon, let's go." They both walked out the front door, and closed it behind them, then started on down the road.

Suddenly, there was a roaring from the side of the house. A vehicle Lion recalled as being called a "car" raced out of Tempo's driveway backwards, then raced forward, and stopped very abruptly. "So are you just going to walk all over a city of 300,000 people or what?" He asked them. They just stood, staring at the car. It was a reddish brown, tiny, box looking thing, and it was pretty beat up as well. "Get in!" He told them. The front seat tilted forward, and he gestured for Lion to get in back. He put the seat back up, and Schala tentatively climbed in as well. "I'd tell you to fasten that seat belt Schala, but I don't think you have anything to worry about."

There was a lot of clanking in the back seat. "I don't even HAVE a seat belt, and how many soda cans is it possible to have in here?" Lion complained.

"Remedying those problems would cost me money, and time better spent drinking more soda." Tempo responded. "Hey, you see my CD case back there?" He squinted at the rearview mirror.

"No." Lion said, folding his arms.

"Dude, you're not even looking." Tempo continued to squint at him through the mirror.

"I said no." Lion said in the same neutral voice.

"Fine, be that way." Tempo responded, then put the car in gear and released the brake. "Ready? Then let's go." He slammed his foot onto the accelerator, and proceeded to race down the residential street at at least thirty five miles per hour.

.

"Television is very educational. Every time someone turns on the set, I leave and go read a book." - Groucho Marx

(Nanaki's note: Believe it or not, I didn't make Samantha-san the Max Weinberg equivalent on "Late Night With Icy O'Brian" because she's Jewish. It was because she knows how to play several instruments. The fact that she's Jewish was just icing on the cake. And getting into the details, she's not a drummer, and I am. But I was already filling the Andy Richter role, and she'd probably make a better band leader anyway, so there you go.)


	18. Pretty Fly For a White Guy

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 18: ****Pretty Fly For a White Guy**

By Nanaki

1995 A.D.

Tempo was still going thirty five when he pulled into Sowell's driveway, but he somehow managed to stop before he crashed through the garage door. There was a thump and rustling in the back seat. "Oh, sorry man." Tempo turned to see Lion had been tossed to the floor. "Did the stop throw you?"

"Don't worry." Lion groaned, hoisting himself back up to the seat. "The pile of cans broke my fall."

"Glad to hear it." Tempo threw his door open, then jumped out and slammed it shut. He jogged up to Sowell's front door and pounded on it. "Hey Sowell! Get your fat ass out of bed!"

The door immediately swung open, and another hand rushed out and intercepted Tempo's pounding fist. "Dude, I'm up." His eyes were only half open.

"What are you doing awake so early on Saturday?" Tempo laughed.

"I've got to get over to school." He blinked in the sunlight.

Tempo looked confused. "Okay, I know you're a super senior, but how bad do you have to be to have to go on Saturday?"

"It's for LTV." He responded. He blinked a couple more times, then his eyes widened. "Where the hell have you been all week?!"

"You really won't believe me." Tempo shook his head sheepishly.

"You'll be lucky if you're ready to play tonight, so you have a lot of explaining to... Hey!..." Sowell began to grin. "Silva's been missing all week too... I see what's been going on..."

"Hey, no..." Tempo continued to shake his head, laughing. "It was nothing like that."

"Sure, whatever you say, Horndog." Sowell punched him in the arm. "So you gonna hang with me today or...?" He trailed off as Schala and Lion finally got out of the car. "And who have we here?"

Schala walked up slowly, very surprised at Sowell's appearance. His skin was a dark tan color, something she had never seen before. Sure, some of Lion's skin was green, but he had some odd powers, which was probably the reason for it. She didn't recall ever seeing anyone with a dark skin color in Zeal. But then again, the kingdom of Zeal had actually been a very screwed up place. She stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Schala."

Lion folded his arms. "My name is Lionello." Sowell had been looking at Schala, but at one sight of Lion, he forgot all about her.

"Whoah! You might wanna lay off the salads man." He leaned forward slightly for a closer look at Lion's arms. "Are these tattoos, or what?"

"Never mind that now." Tempo pushed him away slightly. "Is everyone else ready to go for tonight?"

"Yeah, but we kind of suck without you." Sowell shrugged.

Tempo suddenly appeared to grow nervous. "Have you... Uh, have you tried out the "Song of Death," at all?"

"That freaky thing?" Sowell was surprised. "Well, I tried just the guitar part a few times, but I didn't have everyone do it. Besides, you won't even let anyone know what the lyrics are!"

"That's because I'll be doing the vocals." He shrugged, a slight look of annoyance on his face.

"Tempo, no offense, but you suck at that."

"I know. But I'll just be screaming at the top of my lungs through most of it, so it doesn't matter."

"Why are you bringing this up now anyway? You're not planning on doing it tonight, are you?" Sowell frowned at him.

"No, no!" Tempo laughed. "It has so many swear words they'd never let us play at a game again! No, I'm saving it for a special occassion." They stood in silence for a little while. "Anyway, yeah, I guess we'll hang with you today."

"Uh, cool." Sowell blinked again, but no so much because of sleep now. "Just give me five minutes to get ready." He went back inside, and Tempo sat down on his front steps, staring out at nothing. Schala and Lion stood around, shifting from foot to foot.

"So, is there a purpose to this, at all?" Schala finally asked.

"Well, he shouldn't be mad at me for being gone all week if he gets sick of me being around all day." Tempo smiled.

"What, you're going to annoy him on purpose?"

"Oh, it's not really "on purpose," it's just what always happens, no matter what we seem to do." He laughed.

.

As they walked into South Locorn High School, Schala slowed down and took in what, to her, was another new type of building. Lion looked bored to tears. "Why do you seem so uninterested in all this?" She asked him.

"What, an extremely old fashioned school?" Lion laughed. "I don't know where you're from, but to me, these are just ancient versions of everday things. Lockers may have different locking mechanisms in the schools in my time, but they're still lockers."

Tempo heard some of this, and broke into the conversation softly, hoping Sowell wouldn't hear. "With all the technology present in your time, I would have thought you wouldn't have school at all."

Lion shook his head. "Nah. Society tried that starting somewhere around 2400 A.D., but it was determined within one hundred years that young people function much better in large social groups."

"They seem to function much more casually, anyway." Schala observed.

"Hey, are you guys just going to stand around all day, or what?" Sowell called from a doorway down the hall. He walked inside, and they heard him shout, "Hey guys, guess who I found?"

Tempo sighed and walked in the door, the other two following him. He was greeted with a chorus of, "Tempo!!" "Holy shit man, where've you been?!" "Been bangin' Silva all week, or were you stalking Garin?"

He laughed. Schala was slightly appalled, but she could tell that he really thought this was funny. "All right already!" Tempo shouted to shut them up. "I'll have an explanation for you before the game tonight."

"And when do we get the REAL explanation?" One of the guys interrupted him.

"The first time your mom has less than three dates in one night." Tempo grinned back at him.

"Hey, dirty pool!" Sowell shouted while the rest of them were cracking up. "We can't insult YOUR mom."

"Anyway." Everyone noticed how Tempo avoided responding to that, but no one actually said anything. "We'll talk about it later. What are you guys working on right now?"

One of them swiveled around in his chair to face a computer screen. "Well, I'm working on the promo for next week's game, but somehow, the keyframes for the text rotation here," he pointed at the screen, "keep getting screwed up, and the Alpha Channel won't even appear."

Tempo scratched his chin. "Okay, I don't think it's anything you're doing... Did you reset the default preferences?"

Schala turned away slightly and grumbled to herself. "Sure, don't introduce us or anything."

Sowell heard her complaint. "All the guys here are working on our school TV show. Three of them are in our band too. Tempo and I were one year ahead of them."

"Yeah, and you felt so bad about it you decided to stay another year to make up for it." Tempo overheard and broke in from where he was now sitting in one of the swiveling chairs. He was already munching on a bag of chips that had appeared from out of nowhere.

"Hey, don't eat those right over the keyboard!" Sowell yelled at him, having no other way to counter.

"Get your own bag!" Tempo turned away from him.

"Gimme those, you little nugget fart!" Sowell reached over and grabbed the bag, then retreated to the other end of the room.

"Give it back, you lousy douche bag!" Tempo raced after him, then tackled him, wrestling for the bag of chips. Everyone laughed as they continued to grapple, then Sowell managed to get Tempo in a headlock. He proceeded to give him a noogie until Tempo's hair was sticking up in all directions.

"Who's your super senior?!" He didn't let up. "Say it!!"

Tempo grimaced, then managed to emit, in an annoying, high pitched voice, "Aah! You suck! You suck!!"

Despite herself, Schala grinned a little. She turned to Lion. "You know, I have no idea why, but this is kind of funny."

Lion smiled a little himself, but his was fake. "Ah yes, immaturity can be a lot of fun, but only for a little while." He turned and walked out of the room. "Let me know when they're finished."

"Will do." Schala responded, turning to again watch the "battle." By now, all the chips had been scattered over the floor and crushed, but no one seemed to care. Everyone else was laughing, so she joined in.

.

"Young folks are supposed to try some of everything!" - Anonymous, _Final Fantasy VII_

(Nanaki's note: More useless historical trivia! In 1998, "Get your own bag!" was the slogan for some kind of chip... I'm thinking Doritos, though I'm not sure. As for calling someone a "nugget fart", I have to thank my fellow student in Mrs. Lopez's 4th grade class at North Park Elementary, Picolla McCall.)


	19. The Big Game

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 19: ****The Big Game**

By Nanaki

1995 A.D.

Schala gasped in awe is she took in the high vaulted roof of the basketball court. It curved upward somewhat, and had to be at least fifty feet tall at the highest point. She was really enjoying seeing all these new types of structures, and was getting tired of Lion's constant indifference to the whole experience. To drive the point home, Lion stifled a yawn from where he was standing beside her. She turned her attention from the roof to the bleachers, and grew nervous as she saw the hundreds of other teenagers in attendance. Her initial reaction was to be worried about how she was dressed, given the fact that multiple layers of robes didn't exactly seem to be a popular style around here. She changed her mind when two people dressed almost entirely in black leather and chains brushed past her. She just looked oddly conservative, they looked like freaks.

Still, she wished she had someone from this time to "hang out" with. Tempo had said something about having a date with Silva and left earlier, and now Sowell and the rest of the band had gone to get set up. "Well, what are you two doing here?" Schala turned around to see Silva standing behind them. "Lion, I would have thought you would have gone back to your own time, and Schala, I don't even know what's up with you."

Lion shrugged. "I couldn't take the Ranger with me yet, so I decided to wait."

Schala smiled a little. "You don't even want to know."

Silva just shook her head at them. "Well, the fact that you two are still here kind of reassures me that I didn't go nuts. I don't see any of my friends around here yet, so let's go find some seats."

.

Tempo always became angry when he walked through the halls near the gym. He and Rena had spent so much time making out in the corners around here that he couldn't go by without feeling an ache for her rise up in his chest. As he got close to the side entrance to the court, he saw a bunch of Soultech people standing around, talking. Probably parents there to watch their kids play in the game. He didn't notice as they all seemed to be in a hurry to get out of his way, which is why he got extremely annoyed when one of them didn't, and he bumped into the man. "Watch it, you old geezer." He said offhand, then walked inside and around to the locker room.

"Why you insolent young-" The man began to gesture at him.

"Uh, sir?" One of the men put a hand on his shoulder. "You may want to rethink that. That was Selena's son."

Lord Nagar looked at the man with surprise. "Selena's son? He can't be that old already."

"No mistake sir, that was Tempo."

A distant look appeared in Nagar's eyes. "The burden he must carry... I should go apologize to him." He started to walk toward the locker room.

The man restrained him again. "He wouldn't appreciate it now sir. Let him calm down from whatever made him mad."

Lord Nagar sighed. "After what happened to his mother, I doubt he'll ever calm down."

.

Schala was quite intrigued by this sport known as "basketball." She still hadn't quite figured out all the rules, but it looked like a lot of fun. She was also intrigued by the fact that perhaps one fourth of the teenagers, at most, were actually paying attention to the game. The rest were talking to each other, chomping down snacks, or making out in some of the secluded areas. It was nothing more than a huge gossip and hormone fest, and since Schala didn't have much of either at the moment, she felt kind of left out.

That is, until Silva started talking to her. Apparently, she had already gotten so used to being back in her normal environment that she had forgotten Schala wasn't one of her friends. "There goes Tiffany." She pointed to a girl walking along the bottom of the bleachers. "You'll never guess what she... Oh, sorry." She trailed off as she looked up and realized that she was talking to Schala.

"What?" Schala asked.

"Nothing. Nothing you'd be interested in anyway."

"Why not?" Schala folded her arms.

"Well, no offense, but you seem like one of those people who would grow extremely offended at the slightest mention of sex." Silva shrugged.

"Why would you think that?"

"It's just that... with those robes, you look like you're planning on staying a virgin until you're thirty."

Schala leaned back in her seat, smiling now, although she still felt odd having this type of conversation. "You're fourteen years off."

"Forty four?" Silva couldn't help that one.

"Sixteen." Schala responded calmly, turning back to watch the game.

"You're not bullshittin' me?" Schala shook her head. "You were really sixteen your first time?"

"First and only time, basically." Schala nodded, looking a bit sad now.

Silva now leaned back, and turned to watch the game as well. "Wow. You sure don't look it."

"Well, I was a different person then." Schala said simply.

"In what way?" Silva pried.

"I'd rather not go into that yet." Schala shook her head. "I feel like I should tell Tempo before anyone else anyway."

"Why?" Silva looked a little angry now. "He won't care."

"Maybe not." Schala shrugged. "But he's already asked me about this once, and I wouldn't tell him at the time." They sat in silence for a few moments. "Anyway, what were you going to say before?"

Suddenly, Silva looked like they had never had any kind of a disagreement. "Oh yeah, you'll never guess what Tiffany had pierced."

"What?..." Silva gestured for Schala to lean closer. She did, and Silva whispered something in her ear. "No way!" Schala had to smile at the absurdity of what she was saying. "I didn't think it was even possible to pierce there."

"I didn't either." Silva smiled. "But I heard that some other people heard her bragging about it to her friends."

"Besides, why would she want to? Now she can't..."

"Well, she had it done fairly far down. I think she was hoping to create a tighter..."

"For three seconds maybe." Schala laughed. "Then it's just going to rip..."

They both looked at each other, then cringed in their seats. "Ow!..."

Lion finally opened one eye from where he had been leaning back, dozing. "I wouldn't want to be that guy. Except for those first three seconds, maybe." They looked at him with surprise. "You know, it's amazing the conversations you can have without finishing your sentences."

"What would you know about this anyway?" Silva asked him.

He finally sat up, opening both eyes. "A lot more than you'd think, I'm willing to bet."

"Yeah right." She laughed again. "How old are you anyway, green man? I'd guess sixteen at most."

"Sorry, that's classified information." Lion shook his head.

"I bet it's fifteen then." Silva continued to grin.

"No, I mean it really is classified information. I don't know how old I am." Lion told her with a totally straight face.

"Oh." Her grin disappeared, and she leaned back in her seat. Their attention was brought back to the game as the buzzer for halftime sounded. Silva immediately smiled again. "Tempo should be out here in just a few minutes."

Schala was curious about something. "Hey, doesn't the school have its own band?"

"Yes." Silva nodded. "But they started feeling so outclassed whenever Tempo performed during halftime that they stopped coming around when he's here."

"He's that good?" Lion asked.

"Better. You haven't heard him play yet?" They shook their heads. "Then you're in for a treat."

.

Tempo idly twirled a drumstick in his fingers as the guys got ready to haul their equipment out into the gym. "Do you guys ever wonder how long we're going to keep this up?" He asked casually.

"As long as we can, man." Sowell grimaced as he hefted up an amp.

"What, when we're thirty five with three kids each, we're still going to be playing at the high school? I don't think so." Tempo twirled the stick faster.

"Well, at least until we graduate." One of the seniors in the group said.

"Well I know that." Tempo continued to twirl with an even rhythm. "But basketball season doesn't last forever. We should give something like a "farewell performance" sometime."

"What're you saying?" Sowell turned to give him a dirty look.

"Just a thought." Tempo shrugged. Then he stopped twirling the stick and picked up the bass drum of the set. "C'mon, let's go rock their world."

.

The lights dimmed as the band came out to the middle of the gym floor. Silva chuckled a little to herself. "What's up?" Schala asked.

"Oh, they just used to turn the lights off, because they didn't want to spend the extra money buying the type of bulbs that could dim. But one time, Sowell tripped over the drum set and dropped one of the amps on the floor, and it left a pretty good dent that wasn't easy to fix." Silva looked like she was about to say more, but then the lights brightened somewhat, and she kept silent. Schala noticed that for pretty much the first time all night, most of the other teenagers in the audience were quiet too.

Sowell turned the amp on, and a soft hum filled the gym. Then he quietly began to pick at his guitar. The sound that resulted seemed a little odd, but Schala sat back and observed. It was probably due to the electricity. She couldn't quite figure out why all the others were so enthralled with this though. From what she had seen, the sounds Sowell was producing weren't anywhere near enough to get them going.

Then, she was suddenly hit with a wall of sound that nearly blasted her out of her seat. Some of the lights shut off, and flashing colors raced over the gym floor. Sowell now looked like he was punching his guitar hard, and the other guys went to work on their instruments with equal vigor. Most importantly, Tempo had started pounding away on his drums, of which he had at least six surrounding him, as well as eight cymbals. She shouted in surprise, but no one heard her. Now everyone was jumping up, doing some twisted dance to this stuff, which involved thrashing their heads around more than anything else.

Schala wasn't sure what to make of it at first. It was so strange, and so loud. It was obvious that Sowell was belting out lyrics at the top of his lungs, occasionally being joined by one of the other guys, but she couldn't even come close to understand what they were saying. But by the time they were done, she had to admit that she liked it. It wasn't until the sound of the song died away that she realized just how loud the instruments were. Everyone burst into applause. "Wow!" Schala exclaimed. "That was amazing! It was like an electric org-"

"I know." Silva laughed. "Although that's an interesting way to put it. And that was just the warm up."

Then, Sowell shouted up from the floor. "What do you guys wanna hear?!"

The reply from the audience was nearly unanimous. "Faster, faster!!"

Sowell pretended to look angry. "Let Tempo have all the glory huh? All right." He stepped back, and began plucking at his guitar again. Tempo started in on the drums, but he was playing fairly soft, and just beating out basic eighth notes. Then they stopped playing, and looked up at the audience.

"Faster!!" They all shouted. Now Sowell began pouring on the sound again, and Tempo stepped up to sixteenth notes. Two of the other guys joined in as well. The audience began to rock along with them now. Again, they stopped playing, and looked up at them. "Faster!!" Came the enthusiastic reply. Now they resumed playing just like before, but with a much faster beat. Schala thought Tempo was beginning to show signs of strain, but she soon found that she was dead wrong. "Faster!!" The shout came again without even waiting for the music to stop. Tempo grinned, and then immediately doubled his speed, going to thirty second notes.

"Wow!" Schala shouted to comment to Silva. "He's pretty impressive."

"He's only at mid range right now." Silva grinned. The audience allowed them to play like that for maybe fifteen seconds at max, then shouted again. Tempo grimaced this time, but rather than just speeding up, he doubled again, switching to sixty fourth notes. The drum set sounded like a machine gun. "Well, now he's pretty much at maximum. I've heard him carry the sixty fourth notes a bit faster than this, but not for very long."

After a few seconds of playing that way, Tempo began to show signs of wear and tear. His beat didn't falter, but his grimace grew worse and worse. The sticks began to slip in his hands because of the sweat pouring out of him, and every time he hit the cymbals, small chunks of wood flew off. Then, the audience shouted again. Tempo looked up uneasily, and quickly shook his head. "You can do it Tempo!!" They shouted at him. He grinned, but shook his head again.

Schala wondered if he actually could, but she thought hard at him. 'Enough of this self doubt! You can do anything! So c'mon, faster!!' She could swear she saw a green flash in his eyes.

Tempo struggled to be heard over the noise he was making, especially since he didn't have a microphone. "Yes... I... can!!" He roared, then, amazingly, doubled his speed one more time.

"One hundred twenty eighth notes." Silva gasped. "I never would have thought it possible." The rest of the band barely managed to keep playing as they stared at him in amazement. The song didn't really have a normal ending. It ended when Tempo's sticks fell apart in his hands, a layer of sawdust and splinters covering him, and sticking because of the sweat. He sat there for a few moments, a wild look in his eyes, his arms still partially flailing.

The audience burst into deafening cheers. Tempo slowly got up and bowed low, then sat back down in his seat. He reached into his shirt, and pulled out two more drumsticks. "Always carry a spare." He grinned.

Now most of the teens had managed to organize a chant. "Tempo!! Tempo!!"

Sowell walked over to him. "Well, I don't think you'll ever be able to top that. You were planning on this being the "farewell performance," weren't you?"

"Actually, no." Tempo shrugged. "Just gave the people what they wanted. And I'm going to top that performance right now."

"What do you mean?" Sowell suddenly became worried.

"Look at them." He pointed at the cheering mob of fans, and laughed. "Right now, I'm their hero. There'll never be a better time."

"Time for what?" Sowell narrowed his eyes.

Tempo turned to the rest of the band. "Gentlemen, I've been hiding it for six months, but no more." He quickly whipped some sheets of music out of his shirt, and handed it to them. "It's time to admit that I miss her. It's time... for the Song of Death."

.

"You can't take back, the one mistake, that still lives on, after life it takes." - The Offspring

Nanaki (at age 17, said): For those of you who plain didn't understand the rather immature, and yes, perhaps disgusting, insinuation in this chapter, or those of you who may have been offended by it, I have this to say: You should have waited for the "tame version." Remember that the next time you get curious about a Content Warning chapter.

(Nanaki's note: I know the old note above makes absolutely no sense, and if I wasn't determined to leave my old chapters as unaltered as possible (I'm only correcting spelling mistakes, basically.), I'd delete it. So, let me explain: This chapter introduced the concept of a "Content Warning" to Icy's site, yet another Icy innovation I can take partial credit for, though he HAD been pondering the concept before I brought it up. At first, I was just putting the warning on a few individual chapters, then writing a "tame version" with the questionable content removed. Pretty soon though, I decided that was stupid, and just put a Content Warning on the story as a whole. Before long, all the cool kids were doing it. :p

On another note, the insinuation in this chapter wasn't disgusting, it's damn hot! Although no one actually pierces in the exact spot Silva was implying, but she got her information third-hand, and she's seventeen, so oh well. No, it's just a simple matter of... You know, if I want to keep this story rated "T", I better just stop right there. Anyway, keep reading, because the next chapter is probably the best one until we start getting close to 50.)


	20. The Song of Death

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 20: ****The Song of Death**

By Nanaki

1995 A.D.

Sowell glanced over the sheet he had just been handed. "This is nuts. We can't play this. We'll get busted for sure."

But Tempo wasn't listening to him. He got up and walked over to the microphone, then moved it back over to his drum set. "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we're going to bring you something a little different." The crowd, which was still talking excitedly and chanting his name, instantly shut up. "I wrote this song myself, and I'm also going to be singing it myself. I hope you'll forgive me for not having Sowell's dulcet tones, but I'll do my best."

"You rock Tempo!!" Someone shouted from the audience.

Tempo raised his hand a mock salute. "Thank you, good sir. Now, you all know that my girlfriend Rena was brutally murdered just over six months ago. This song is for her... and her killer." The crowd emitted an air of general puzzlement. "I think you'll see what I mean." Tempo smiled thinly. "Ready guys?"

Sowell frowned. "Well now, I don't think we can NOT play it. Let's dive in the deep end then."

He started strumming his guitar, and Tempo softly began mouthing his lyrics. "I first met her when I was only four, she was just a friend and nothing more, until I heard some guy call her a whore. I left him bleeding on the floor!" Now the band went into a frenzy, emitting a ton of odd sounds that didn't exactly combine well. At least, it didn't seem that way. About ten seconds later, they went back to the soft melody they had started with. "Now I saw her as more than just a friend, if she'd talk about marriage I'd just ask her when. I wanted to be by her side until the end." He paused for half a second, then continued. "I wanted her to bear my children."

The guys in the audience began to frown, and started commenting to each other. Tempo made a snap decision. He had another verse about Rena planned, but that really wasn't the purpose of the song. He reached up and pulled the microphone down closer to him. "But you already knew that. Now, as for her killer..." He quickly gestured for the guys to skip the next verse, and suddenly, the room was again filled with the weird, harsh sounds they had played before.  
"I hate that bastard!  
"I hate that bastard!!  
"I haaaaaaate that bastard!!  
"If I ever see him, I'm gonna kill him, before he even has a chance to explain.  
"If I ever see him, I'm gonna kill him, because all he's ever done is cause pain.  
"If I ever meet him, you know I'm gonna kill him, and wash his intestines down the drain!!"

Now everyone in the audience was practically jumping with enthusiasm for Tempo's bloodthirst, and the beat coming from the drum set grew much louder. The noise was beginning to coalesce into some sort of melody, but it was still pretty harsh on the ears.  
"He took her life, and left me here alone.  
"Now the least I can do is break some bones.  
"I'll bash his head in,  
"I'll pour acid on his skin,  
"I'll cut off his balls and force feed them to him..."

"Yeah!!" The cheer from the audience temporarily drowned him out. Tempo grinned.

"He thinks he did this, and got away free.  
"But someday a knife in his heart will be held by me!  
"I'll poke his out his eyes.  
"Or just "put him on ice."  
"If he ever gets married, I'll murder his wife!"  
"Now there's no time to cower,  
"Or go crying to my mother...  
"I JUST WANT TO KILL THAT GOD DAMN MOTHER FUCKER!!"

Now Sowell and the rest of the band broke in too, all just screaming at the top of their lungs. The crowd was in a frenzy, at least fifty of them shouting out offers to help Tempo. But he couldn't hear them. He could barely hear the rest of the band. His eyes were totally wild, and he was hitting the drums so hard that he thought his ear drums might pop. Suddenly, there was a very loud bang. Tempo looked down, and was gratified to see that his snare drum had been impaled by his stick, even though that should have been impossible. He held it up, then threw it high up into the air, where it fell to the gym floor and broke into dozens of pieces. Fans swarmed down from the bleachers to grab a piece of what was sure to become a collector's item. With one stick, he contined to play on, and joined in just in time for the finale.

"Kill!... Hate!... Kill!! Hate!! KILL!! HATE!! Killhatekillhatekillhatekillhate... Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate!! Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!"

The rest of the guys immediately stopped playing, while Tempo gave the bass drum one last pound, which caused the front to burst inward with a deafening bang. As the noise died away, all the lights in the gym came back on. Tempo looked up, and saw that the second half was about to start. He had almost forgotten that they were at a game. He slowly stood up, and was greeted with deafening applause. "Well gentlemen," his smile was real this time, "let's clean up."

.

"Well," Silva observed as Tempo carried the drums he hadn't broken back into the locker room. "That was quite something. The rage doesn't surprise me, but I didn't know he loved her that much..."

"I know how he feels." Schala nodded sadly. "And especially how it feels to be helpless to do something about it."

"Now that was interesting." Lion smiled. "First time I've been wide awake all day."

Silva stood up as Tempo came back out of the den. "Maybe I should go talk to him." Then, her eyes widened as someone walked up to Tempo. "Uh oh. This could be trouble."

"Why?" Schala saw a very angry look reappear on Tempo's face. "Who is that?"

"Garin."

.

"Well, well, well, Tempo." Garin grinned, slapping him on the shoulder. "That was quite the song, I must admit. But I can't help but feel that some of that rage might have been directed at me."

"Get the hell out of my way." Tempo strained to control himself, and merely pushed Garin to the side. Garin grabbed ahold of his wrist, twisting it up behind his back.

"Now, that's no way to talk to a friend of Rena's, is it?" He continued to grin.

Sowell emerged from the locker room. "Hey Tempo, I..." He trailed off as he saw the situation. "Aw, shit! Everyone back up!!" He turned around and quickly shoved the rest of the band members back into the locker room.

"Heyaah!" Tempo whirled around and punched Garin in the face, kneed him in the stomach, then slammed him back against the wall. "Friend?!" He hissed. "I don't think so. I know it was you!!" He aimed another punch, but Garin ducked down and Tempo's fist hit the wall. Garin finished his duck with a knee to the nuts, and Tempo doubled over.

"That was a foolish decision on your part." Garin observed, then pulled back and kicked Tempo in the head. Tempo went flying backwards, but he grabbed Garin's foot on the way down, wrenching it pretty good. They both stood up, glaring at each other. Out of the corner of his eye, Tempo saw some school officials that had already been on the way over to talk to him about the song hurry up. Garin took that lapse to deliver another kick to the head. Tempo went to the ground again, this time landing on his ass. "Submit now." Garin said it as a friendly suggestion, like he didn't really care.

'Or I'll make you scream like she did.' Later, Tempo would realize that the words probably hadn't been said out loud. After all, Garin's mouth hadn't moved. But at that moment, he reacted the only way he possibly could.

"Huuuuaaaaggghhh!!" A green glow burst out from him, then concentrated in his fist with lightning speed. "Slaaaaam!!" Garin's head snapped sideways from the blow, and he was flung through the air, to go crashing through the wall and on into the locker room. The school officials were suddenly in much less of a hurry to get there. "Come out of there!!" Tempo roared. "I want more! I want to see you suffer!!"

"You want more?" Tempo assumed a defensive stance. "You'll get more than you bargained for!!" Another section of wall close to the hole shattered, and flew out at him. Garin was flying through the air, encased in a reddish purple fire. He rammed into Tempo, then lifted them both up into the air. He continued to fly straight on into the bleachers, smashing through the soda covered wooden planks. Dozens of teens spilled off the sides in their hurry to get away from the fight.

As Garin stood and dusted his hands, Tempo grinned from where he lay in the smashed boards, splinters covering his face. "I bargained for this." He said triumphantly. "How about you?! Haaah!!" The entire section of bleachers vanished in a green explosion, with Tempo rocketing out of it, Garin caught in the gut on the end of a pummeling fist. Tempo pulled back with his other fist in midair, and gave Garin another Slam powered punch to the jaw. He fell to the floor as Tempo landed softly.

Garin didn't move right away, so Tempo crossed his arms and assumed a defensive position. In a few seconds, green fire erupted around him, raging all over his body. Tendrils of energy began to lance outward. The gym floor around him cracked, and chunks of it rose up to hover in midair around him. The basketball hoop bent down toward him. The walls began to bend inward. Now, Garin was back on his feet. "You actually dare to think you're more powerful than me?" He asked in surprise.

Tempo answered through clenched teeth. "I'll kill you... even if... I have to die too!" He opened his mouth to yell his next maneuver, when a suggestion filled his head.

'You know, you might do better if you didn't yell out all your attacks before you used them.' It was clearly Schala's voice, although he shouldn't have been able to hear her.

What he did shout was, "You're finished!!" Tempo charged forward, activating a Diamond Fist as he went. He smiled as he heard ribs cracking with the impact. He quickly executed an uppercut which left Garin staggering. He followed that with a Vertiround that sent Garin flying up into the ceiling. Garin tried to grab onto one of the gym lights. He succeeded, but the light tore out of the roof, showering sparks onto the people below. Garin landed hard on the floor, trying to roll out of the way before the light hit him. It smashed down onto his arm anyway. "Get up!!" Tempo roared.

"I'm only too happy to oblige." The fire surrounded Garin again, and he blazed back up to Tempo. He flew so low to the floor that he was able to grab Tempo by the ankles, then haul him up into the air and drop him into the basketball hoop. "Bet you don't feel so cool now, huh?" Garin grinned.

"It's not about COOL!!" Tempo yelled, starting to froth at the mouth. "It's about revenge!!" With that, the backboard vanished in green fire. It crashed to the floor, all the metal melting, spitting sparks everywhere. "I'm going to make you pay for-"

"Stop this shameful brawling at once!" An authoritative voice shouted. Lord Nagar dropped to floor level, hovering between the two combatants. The glow coming from Garin and Tempo dimmed. "Garin, I'm very disappointed in you. We'll discuss your punishment later." Then he turned to Tempo. "And I expect much better from Selena's son."

Tempo was still brimming full of anger, but even now, he didn't dare to disobey Lord Nagar. But he didn't have to worry. Garin stifled a yawn, then raised up a hand. "Aw, can it, you old geezer. Fheikhu!!" A red ball of energy rocketed from Garin's hand, smashing Lord Nagar on the side of the head. As Nagar had been entirely unprepared for an attack from either side, he was knocked into the wall, and from there into unconsciousness.

"It figures that you wouldn't even have respect for your old man, you bastard." Tempo said scornfully.

"He got in my way." Garin shrugged. "And by the way, my parents were married for a good while before I was born, unlike yours."

Tempo's glow brightened noticeably. "Are you insulting my mother?!"

Garin shrugged. "Take it how you want. I'm just saying that she seemed to be open for busin-"

"Haaaaaahhh!!" Tempo blazed forward, his arms a flurry of flaming green punches. He bowled into Garin, sending them both to the floor, then continued to pummel him. He felt nearly all of Garin's ribs breaking now. When he was sure he had gotten them all, he pulled back his right fist for an ultra powerful blow that would land right in Garin's ugly mug. Garin took that lapse to release a blast of energy right in Tempo's face. He then somehow jumped up, even though that should have been impossible for someone in his condition. He stretched his arms outward, and two beams of fire smashed Tempo back into the wall.

Garin quickly followed the flames, snapping Tempo's head back with a right hook. Another burst of power flowed down his arms, and Tempo went crashing through the wall, to land in a heap of rubble outside. Garin rushed out into the hall, grabbed Tempo by his collar, and hurled him through the wall again, back into the gym.

.

"Uh, you know, I think we probably need to go help him." Schala started forward. Lion nodded in agreement.

"No." Silva calmly put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "I know him well enough to say, that he'd rather lose and actually die, than accept help to fight Garin."

"He's heading toward the former pretty damn fast." Schala shook her head in disgust.

"Not quite." Silva grinned. "Now he'll just be REALLY mad."

.

Garin picked Tempo up by his collar again, but this time just glared at him. Blood was running out of Tempo's nose, and a huge bruise was spreading over his left cheek. "Well, have you learned anything from all this?"

"Wha?..." That wasn't exactly what Tempo had been expecting. But he didn't wait for an answer from Garin. "The only thing I've learned is, you're not quite as much of a wuss as I thought!" Then, green fire surrounded Tempo in a seven foot radius. Garin jumped back, cursing. "This is it for you!! Thousand point striiiiiiiiiiike!!" Before Garin even saw him moving, Tempo was there, punching him in the face. Garin would have thought that the name of this particular tech was merely wishful thinking, but from the sensations of pain that flooded his brain, he began to think that it just might have been possible that Tempo was actually striking him one thousand times. When the last hit connected, he was flung back into the set of bleachers that hadn't been broken yet, to vanish in a cloud of dust.

"Now I'll finish you!!" Tempo's voice seemed to be near the breaking point from so much shouting. But the green fire blazing around him expanded even more, and one huge beam of it rushed to the point in the bleachers where Garin had been thrown. The resulting burst of power vaporised the bleachers, and if most of the students hadn't realized how powerful these two were and cleared out by now, it would have resulted in quite a few casualties. But then, the burst of power vanished. Tempo stood, half hunched over, breathing heavily. A silence hung in the air. Looking around, Tempo saw Silva, Schala, and Lion peering in from one of the entrances to the gym. Then, a slow clapping broke the silence. None of the three at the doorway were doing it. They looked around in puzzlement.

Garin emerged from what little remained of the bleachers, slowly applauding. He appeared to be unscathed. A crackling blue orb floated above his head. "Very good!" He smiled at Tempo. "You may not be as useless as I thought. But whatever the case may be, you've hung around here long enough."

"You're still up?!" Tempo demanded. "I'll just have to put you down again then!!" He ran forward.

"Oh please. Cut the theatrics." Garin snapped his fingers, and electricity erupted from the floor underneath Tempo. He cried out in pain, before collapsing to the floor, where he lay stunned. Garin gestured, and Tempo was lifted into the air. He lazily drifted over until he was right next to the blue orb. It began to crackle more violently.

Schala warily stepped back into the gym. "Who are you? I feel like I know you."

"That you do." Garin responded calmly.

"So then who are you?!" She demanded.

"Now, now, there's no need to get upset just because I kicked the crap out of your precious "boyfriend." Besides, it's not like you could do anything to me. You still have a long way to go before you can kill that Lavoid you're after." Garin pointed a finger at her now. She cried out as she too was lifted into the air, and drifted over next to Tempo. Silva and Lion were rounded up in a similar manner. "Now it's time for all of you to get going. Don't disappoint me." The blue orb above him opened up to become a full gate.

Tempo recovered from his shock enough to yell. "Disappoint you?! Don't think you've seen the last of me! Even if you send me to another time, I'll still come back and kill you!!"

Garin shook his head in disgust. "I've told you before, you need to forget about me and what you think I've done. You have bigger problems to worry about."

"That was just a dream!!" Tempo screamed. "What are you?!"

"Goodbye." Garin said impatiently, and they were all hurled into the portal.

"Fuck yoouuuuuuuuu!..." Tempo shouted as the void swallowed him.

Garin folded his arms as the gate vanished into thin air. "What a mess." He observed what remained of the gym, which wasn't too horribly much. He clasped his hands together, and bowed his head, before whispering. "The last fifteen minutes never happened." The chamber rippled, and when it cleared, he was standing at the entrance to the locker room, watching Tempo's amazing performace during "Faster, faster." "After this song, they played, "Why I don't believe in God," then calmly went back to the locker room. Tempo never played his "Song of Death." Garin said casually to the air. "After that, Tempo went out the back door, and no one has seen him, Silva, Schala, or Lionello since. Are we clear on that?" The air seemed to shimmer in response. "Good." He thought for a second, then spoke up again. "Say, as long as I'm at it, I want it to be legal for the snack stand to serve beer..."

.

"I'll show you the power of anger!" - Edge, _Final Fantasy IV_

(Nanaki's note: Well, did it live up to the hype? It sure did for me. Though it would be nice if Tempo could move past his desire for revenge, his Vegeta-esque demeanor in this chapter took him to a level of awesome Schala has rarely reached, if ever. Oh, and I'm fully aware that it's virtually impossible to break a snare drum with a drumstick, but that's far from the most improbable thing that happened in this chapter.)


	21. Back to the Future

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 21: ****Back to the Future**

By Nanaki

Timeless

Vigo: Well, that was quite something.

Gren: No kidding. I've rarely seen him more pissed.

Vigo: Then you've rarely seen him. Still, that was serious.

Gren: Hold on. I feel another presence...

Arthur: ...Oh, damn. Dead again...

Vigo: Arthur, you're back!

Gren: We weren't expecting you here quite yet. How'd this happen?

Arthur: Ah, the enemy managed to blow up Fort Tintagel. It was just a token victory for them though. My side has it in the bag.

Vigo: Well, that's some good news then. Too bad you didn't live to see the fruits of your labors. Gren had a similar experience not too horribly long ago.

Arthur: Oh? That Zeiram's one tough demon, isn't it?

Gren: You can say that again.

Arthur: Oh? That Zeiram's-

Vigo: Lemme guess. You were pretty damn literal this past life.

Arthur: Well, yes, my generals were of that opinion. Who're you guys keeping tabs on now, by the way?

Vigo: Elan, El, and to a lesser extent, Rez.

Arthur: Rez?! I thought he wasn't going anywhere until Hell froze over or Lavoids became extinct, whichever came LAST. At least, that's what Rofellos said.

Vigo: Yes, and we were sticking to that policy. Rez came here and begged me to let him go along. Unfortunately, I said something to the effect of, "Good luck finding a hero that'll give you permission!" So, he went and asked Schala.

Arthur: That sounds like him. Well, let's hope he and Elan don't ever remember their past lives here, because they'd kill each other.

Gren: Amen to that.

* * *

"Nooooooo!!" Tempo roared with rage as they emerged from the time tunnel. The pillar of light immediately vanished behind them. "I have to get back there!!"

Silva put a hand on his throbbing arm. "Calm down Tempo!"

"Why?! She was your SISTER, damn it! Why should I calm down, much less you?!"

"What even makes you think Garin did it?!" She shouted at him.

"What makes me think?! I don't think, I KNOW!"

"How?" She lowered her voice, hoping he would follow her example. He bowed his head and remained silent. "Tempo, just think with a clear head for a minute here. You don't have any proof, and you just used up so much power you should be dead already!"

"Then Garin should be too!" Tempo slammed his fist into the railing at the edge of the platform, but then became quiet again.

"After seeing the power he just displayed, you think normal rules apply to him?" Schala spoke up. "He treated us like we were insects. And seeing how he emerged unscathed from the thrashing you gave him, I think he might be right, for now."

"As long as he lives, Garin will never be RIGHT about anything!" Tempo kicked the railing now.

"I think that, for the moment, you need to get beyond your hatred and look at this carefully." She folded her arms.

"Beyond the hatred?! How could YOU possibly have any idea of what I'm feeling here?!" He yelled scornfully.

Schala's mouth seemed to twitch a little. She turned away, as if trying to contain what she wanted to say, but then turned back when she realized she couldn't. "How could I have any idea? The love of my life was killed by an evil monster too, okay?! Only in my case, it's WORSE, because he came back to life and is in love with someone else!! Don't wallow in your own self pity so much!!" With that, she turned and ran off the platform, toward the torch pillar in the distance.

"I... I..." Tempo stammered. He turned to Silva and Lion. "I think I'd better go talk to her."

* * *

Arthur: Hmm... Guess that age old saying is true. You always hurt the one you love.

Gren: Have those two ever gotten together without fighting first? Or an argument at least?

Vigo: Uh... No. I'm afraid this time is going to be very complicated for both of them.

Arthur: It stands to reason. Have we ever had heroes from two different lifetimes working together before?

Vigo: That were originally in the same lifetime? No, not in our sector anyway.

Gren: Hey, quiet now. I'm trying to listen in.

* * *

Keldon politely turned away, despite his raised eyebrow, as Tempo approached Schala. She was sitting on the edge of the circular platform, peering through the fence, down into the swirling mists beyond. He tentatively put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. You're right about me being pretty self absorbed in this matter." She didn't move. He sat down next to her, now staring at the mist himself.

"I can certainly understand why you're so angry." Schala didn't turn to look at him. "But if you let the anger control you, you can never hope to win. I found that out the hard way."

"Is that why you're 'dead'?" Tempo asked quietly. "You died trying to avenge him?"

"Yes." Schala nodded, still staring at the mist. "But I was basically fighting against a Lavoid, plus someone who hated me very much, and that was a fight I couldn't hope to win by myself. I had a chance to surrender, but I was so blinded by rage that I fought to the death."

Tempo sighed, and looked down at his knees. "That's what should have just happened to me. I don't know why it didn't." Now Schala looked at him, a curious expression on her face. "Silva was right, you know. I did use up enough power to end my life. There's no reason why I'm still alive."

"Garin." Schala said simply. "I know that looked like a fierce battle, but judging from the end, I think he was just toying with you. He choreographed the whole thing, and may have even supplied you with the power you used."

Tempo sighed again. "You're probably right. At least you had a fair fight."

Schala actually smiled. "The fight may have been fair, in a way, but in the end, it was what I hated that allowed me to continue living, just like you."

Tempo smiled too, then he put his arm around her and pretended to raise a glass up into the air. "Well, here's to botched attempts at revenge."

Schala pretended to raise a glass too. "Cheers."

.

"Well, they're both pretty calm now." Lion observed. "I was surprised to see her show any emotion though."

"No kidding." Silva shook her head. "She told me that I didn't even want to know what was up with her, but I do. She acts all cold and unemotional, but then will suddenly lapse into anger." Then she thought back to the game. "Not just anger either. I mean, we were talking just like normal people not very long ago."

Lion looked back over at them, shrugged, and went over to the walkway between platforms. "Well, I can't say I know much about them." He turned back to Silva. "But I don't think that either of those two is 'normal'."

* * *

Vigo: At least he realizes it.

Gren: Well, they resolved that one fairly quick.

Vigo: Don't be too sure. That was just one step in a very long process.

Arthur: I wonder why Tempo didn't ask about that little, "he came back to life" phrase.

Gren: Because, Elan already understands, even if he doesn't KNOW.

Vigo: Convenient, that.

Arthur: Hmm... Are those other two heroes?

Gren: I'm not sure. If they are, they're no one of note.

Arthur: Gren, we all started out as "no one of note."

Vigo: Elan and El didn't. They were special from the moment of their creation.

Arthur: You know what I meant Vigo. They're the exceptions to the rule.

Gren: And you know what I meant Arthur. Sure, we all started out that way, but we sure as hell are different now.

Arthur: Yes... And sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing.

Vigo: That's for God to decide, not us.

Gren: You better tell that to Rofellos, because he doesn't seem to buy into that philosophy.

Vigo: I doubt we'll need to remind him. I believe someone else will remind him soon enough...

* * *

Keldon noticed Lion and Silva starting to head his direction, and decided it would be all right to say something now. "You know, I couldn't help overhearing something." He began. Tempo turned to look at him. "You wondered why you're still alive. I must be missing out on something, because I don't see why you shouldn't be."

Tempo stood up and turned to face him. "Well, I'm Soultech. Every time I use one of the those skills I made use of in the fight, it eats up a part of my life force."

"Yes, I know the basics of Soultech." Keldon said boredly. "I see an awful lot from up here. And I also know that you, my young friend, are not using Soultech."

"What?!" Lion exclaimed before Tempo could do the same. "If it's not Soultech, then what is it?"

"Pure, simple magic." Keldon said calmly.

"That's nuts!" Lion shouted. "No single person could muster enough power from normal magic to use Soultech skills!"

"I'm afraid you're wrong there. I've seen people muster much more power by themselves than he currently displays." Keldon pointed at Tempo. Then he straightened back up. "But that is not important at the moment. What is important, is that the foe you just battled has sealed up access to all but one of the time pillars."

"How could he possibly do that?" Tempo asked.

"Even I am at a loss as to HOW, for the moment." Keldon shook his head. "It seems you have little choice but to go through the remaining pillar, unless you want to stay here forever."

"Won't the others ever open back up?" Schala asked.

"The spell that sealed them is linked to you four. I'm guessing that the others will open back up as soon as you leave, but even then, I'm not sure."

"I don't suppose you're done with the Skyshroud Ranger yet?" Even as he asked, Lion glanced over at the parts littering the walkway next to the Ranger, and knew the answer. "What're you doing to my baby anyway?"

"Your ship will be better than ever before when I'm done with it." Keldon assured him. "But it's nowhere near to being done yet."

"Where does it go to?" Tempo asked, pointing at the one remaining pillar.

"What, to you, is the "future" era, which you left not long ago." Keldon told him.

"Great." Tempo clenched his fist. Schala put a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know exactly why, but it looks like we're fated to be involved in all this time traveling. Maybe even fated to combat the Lavoid."

"I still don't even know what a Lavoid IS!" Tempo shouted. "But, I suppose we do have a score to settle with Berreka." He walked up to the pillar, and everyone else followed him. He sighed one last time, but then straightened up. "All right, let's get it on!" The other three followed him without hesitation.

Keldon smiled as all the other time pillars instantly reappeared. "I don't know what your game is Garin, but thanks for shoving them in the right direction..."

.

"I think I must have seen him again, in you." - Aerith Gainsborough, _Final Fantasy VII_

(Nanaki's note: This chapter was the last to be posted at Icy's before my first period of "exile" from the net, and thus, marks the end of the Golden Age my of fanfic writing: September 1997 - March 1999. The next installment wouldn't be posted for more than four months, which, at the time, was an insanely long period to go without posting something online. By contrast, if I had averaged a chapter every four months in recent years, I'd be lot farther along in the story than I am. But then, it hasn't been entirely my fault. (More on that later.) YOU, on the other hand, can go ahead to Chapter 22 right now.)


	22. Weapon Attack!

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 22: ****Weapon Attack!**

By Nanaki

8,000 B.C.

The Lavoid opened the eye pod on his shell as he detected the rock he was burrowing through crumble away in front of him. The eye pod revealed a cavern of tremendous size, rippling with heat, with many pools of lava scattered randomly around the red stone floor. He quickly smashed all the way through the rest of the rock, and directed his shell to settle in the very center of the cavern. He couldn't have asked for a better spot to absorb some of the planet's energy. As an added bonus, it was also full of the immense heat that all Lavoids had such an affinity for. He settled his shell down into a dormant position, and green tendrils of lifestream energy began to curl up into it. The Lavoid relaxed, basking in the pure essence of life itself.

Suddenly, a great roar shook the cavern. The Lavoid's shell vibrated with the deep sound. The eye pod quickly whooshed back open, and the Lavoid could see two pairs of angry eyes glowing within the rock wall. A second later, another roar came from behind him, and he was sure it was more than the reverberations of the chamber. 'A Weapon ambush!' He cursed to himself. It appeared that he would have to cut this draining session short. He also momentarily regretted the fact that, as a Class B, he didn't have such things as Weapon intelligence infusion and mind control automatically built into his systems. He had to make a conscious choice to activate them. He doubted that either process would be instantaneous, and with him in full view, the Weapons might retain their desire to destroy him even if he gave them more intelligence. He would have to go for mind control, if anything. In either case, he would have to stop draining now.

Unless... His shell could basically complete the energy leeching without his guidance. He could always just go out there and fight the stupid things. As a gigantic fist smashed through the rock wall, he raced out of the chamber he was in, and went straight to the one containing his biological battle armor. As the roaring of the Weapons mixed with the sound of breaking rock, he hurried to get everything strapped on. Much as he hated to admit it, they did pose a threat to him. Soon, the smashing stopped, and only low, rumbling growls could be heard. The Lavoid smiled, and walked toward the front of his shell. The eye pod receded back inside, and the front portion opened wider to allow him through. He quickly surveyed the four Weapons that surround him. The largest had chosen to be about sixty feet tall, so he crossed his arms and grew to that size as well. "So, you four actually think you can defeat me?" He was fairly sure that they could, but he wasn't about to let them know that. The Weapons narrowed their eyes at the sound of his voice, but also shook their heads in confusion.

The Lavoid took that moment of distraction to size them up. The largest was very stockily built, but in spite of that, had some very sharp edges to his armor. His overall appearance was reminiscent of a huge crystal. The next Weapon was a dark orange color, and draconian in form, with some very long claws to complete the look. The third was much like the first, though a bit slighter and build, and lacking the sharpness of the armor. It's coloring was a bit darker than the leader's. The Lavoid quickly recognized the final Weapon as the most dangerous. It radiated a soft, blue glow, and clearly possessed a mastery of the ice element. Since Lavoids were getting to be a rather common planetary enemy, it looked as if this planet had taken the precaution of tailoring a Weapon specifically for Lavoid combat.

The Weapons, finally having decided that, voice or no, this was still a Lavoid, advanced on him. The leader raised up one hand, and nailed him with such a potent Ultima that he was hurled into the opposite wall of the chamber, which was a fair distance from where he had been standing. In an instant, he drew in a huge number of Shadow waves, and hurled a separate Dark Matter at each of the Weapons. They vanished in a huge Shadow explosion that caused the high vaulted ceiling of the large chamber to rumble, shaking a few rocks loose. When the dust cleared, all the Weapons still stood there, looking none the worse for wear. Now, the Ice Weapon sneered. The Lavoid crossed his arms and took up a defensive stance. The Ice Weapon brought its wrists together, fingers spread apart, and a shuddering blue blast raced toward the Lavoid. As he commanded the lava in the chamber to rise up and protect him from the onslaught, the Lavoid tried to analyze the attack, and found that the power of it was so high, it was impossible to accurately measure. The lava that he had raised instantly solidified into stone, and then began to crumble away beneath the blue beam.

Incredibly, the stone on the Lavoid's side began to glow blue. He froze, waiting for the beam to break through, but the Ice Weapon finally let up. Peering around the side of his newly made wall, the Lavoid saw that the glow around the Ice Weapon's hands had diminished. It looked like he was momentarily out of juice. He quickly retreated back behind the partial cover the rock offered. If that blast had connected with him, it would have injured him very badly, possibly even killed him. He realized that the planet would spare no expense in getting rid of him, and would probably pour every last ounce of power it could into these Weapons. He knew he could not reasonably hope to match the planet's power. Especially not outnumbered as he was. However, he wasn't about to reveal this to the Weapons.

He quickly stepped out from behind his shelter, and both fire laser batteries in his breastplate opened up at full blast. The room was filling with pure fire energy, which exploded right in the Weapons' faces. In the center of the inferno, the Lavoid thought he could make out the form of the Ice Weapon staggering back. He allowed himself a smile.

That smile quickly became an O of surprise as two huge, crystalline spikes suddenly burst out of his chest, spraying orange ichor everywhere. He belatedly reminded himself that the Ice Weapon was not the only threat as the Crystal Weapon lifted him up. He realized he was impaled on the behemoth's shoulder spikes, and his apprehension increased as the giant lowered his head and charged straight at the wall.

If not for his armor, being smashed between the rock and the gigantic body of the Weapon would probably have finished him. As it was, he was driven hundreds of feet into the rock, and left stunned and in pain as the Weapon retreated out of the tunnel he had just made. He quickly began casting a spell to heal himself, but was not fast enough. The leader of the Weapons stepped back up to the entrance of the tunnel, and brought his hands together in a manner very similar to the way the Ice Weapon had done. The Lavoid gritted his teeth in preparation for the beam of energy that rushed at him. As it blasted away at his armor, he was unable to even determine what type of power it was. He could only tell that it was very destructive indeed.

He managed to scrunch up against the wall enough so that a good portion of the beam carved up more of the rock, making the tunnel much longer. As the beam of power died away, he sent a mental signal to his shell to launch the trademark of the entire Lavoid species, the Rain of Destruction. The Weapons roared in surprise as they were assaulted from an object that they had assumed to be inanimate. They quickly surrounded his shell and began pounding away at it, seemingly oblivious to its spikes.

The Lavoid was still in great pain, but now he smiled as he got a moment's rest. Not wanting to be left without a backup plan, he quickly initiated his mind control sequence. It would take several minutes to activate, but he was sure he could last that long. There was a large chance of failure, but if the battle progressed to a point where he actually needed to use it, he would be at failure's door anyway.

As the Weapons continued to ignore him, he again commanded the lava. It rushed up and formed an edged weapon in his hand. Its basic schape was that of a sword, but a scythe like protrusion was also attached to one of the edges. He quickly ran up behind the Crystal Weapon, and hacked off both large shoulder spikes before the leader could do anything. After that, all the Weapons roared at once, and quickly forgot about the shell.

The two Weapons which had not previously done anything both rushed him at once. The draconian Weapon slashed at him with its long claws, and the Lavoid was dismayed to discover that they cut through his armor with ease. As a follow up to that, the humanoid Weapon bowled into him, knocking him over. The draconian Weapon reared back its head, and then sprayed him with fire from its mouth. The Lavoid would have laughed, except that the fire seemed to have some jade magic mixed into it, so it was still quite painful. The humanoid Weapon was still standing too close for his liking, so even as he was being bombarded, he swung his swordscythe up and into its stomach.

All the Weapons roared again, and the Crystal and Ice Weapons hurried over before he could get up. Now he was surrounded, and all their hands began to glow at the same time. He opened up with his fire lasers again, but the Weapons hardly seemed to feel it now. Then eight hands were pointed downward at him, and the laser batteries were destroyed with the first rush of the blasts.

Balls of energy pulsed from the Weapon hands almost faster than the eye could see. The combined explosions grew gradually bigger, but the Weapons just stood in the middle of them, apparently immune to their own destructive energy. Soon, the explosions filled the entire cavern, and it was just a sea of destructive power. The ceiling began to seriously cave in. The Lavoid cursed at the pain flowing freely through his body, then again as he realized his shell was taking damage from all the energy.

But as the cumulative effect of the energy blasts grew worse, the Lavoid stopped caring about his shell. He realized that his armor would be completely eaten away in about thirty more seconds, and he would be dead in less than a minute. He simply couldn't believe that a Lavoid as powerful as himself was going to die this early on in his career. The energy filling the cavern would have been enough to blow the planet apart, had the planet not been controlling the flow of it. The Lavoid gritted his teeth, but he feared he was very close to screaming, and he did not want to give the Weapons that satisfaction.

Then, suddenly, it stopped. The Weapons stood up and remained motionless as the energy ran its natural course and dissipated. The Lavoid struggled for an explanation, until he remembered that he had activated his mind control sequence earlier. His desperation move had actually worked! He groggily began to move his aching body. He scanned for his swordscythe, but it had been destroyed in the maelstrom. He slowly got to his knees, then stood up. He motioned for the Weapons to line up in front of him, and they obeyed. He smiled and nodded at them, then pulled the Ice Weapon out of the line. "Sorry, my newfound friend." He continued to grin at the Weapon, which dumbly smiled back. "But you're far too dangerous to leave alive." The Lavoid put his left hand on the Weapon's forehead, and it lit up with blazing fire energy. He channeled the blast into the Ice Weapon's head, and the whole creature exploded in a shower of blue sparks.

Before the Weapon's spirit energy could be absorbed by the planet, he quickly locked on to it. He turned back to the other Weapons, ready to infuse them with this extra power from their fallen comrade.

Instead, he turned back to see only two Weapons waiting patiently for him. Whipping around, the Lavoid saw that the Crystal Weapon was standing at the entrance to the passage he had originally entered the chamber from. The Weapon roared a challenge at him, then jerked his hand out. The spirit enegy hovering around the Lavoid raced away from him and gathered around the Weapon. The Crystal Weapon roared again, but this wasn't a simple battle roar. It was a feral, bestial howl of sheer rage, sending a very clear message: "I'm going to kill you."

Then, he disappeared down the tunnel. The Lavoid scratched his head. He didn't know how the leader had broken his control. It was possible that the Crystal Weapon had never been under his control to begin with, and had simply mimicked his comrades' actions when they stopped their attack. It was also possible that the destruction of a Weapon under his command had snapped the Crystal Weapon out of his trance. The Lavoid sighed, aware that he now had a very powerful enemy gunning for him.

But the sigh quickly turned into a smile with a sudden realization. The Weapons had only been so powerful because they had been supplied with virtually unlimited energy directly from the planet. Although the planet would almost certainly cut off its power from the Weapons now under Lavoid control, it would also be loathe to use the Crystal Weapon to destroy those Weapons. It would also be unlikely to depend on a single Weapon to wield enough power to destroy him. The planet had considered four Weapons to be unstoppable, but one was not. The only thing that kept the Lavoid from feeling complete relief was the spirit energy that the Crystal Weapon had stolen, but that was a minor detail.

He turned back toward his shell to see his two Weapons grinning idiotically at him. Thinking of his favorite human action that he had learned so far, he tilted his head back and laughed.

.

"Being a fiend is like being a photographer. You have to wait for the right moment." - Vegeta, _Dragon Ball Z (first version)_

(Nanaki's note: As implied in last chapter's note, this was the first piece of writing from me to be posted up after my first "exile" from the net, making it the beginning of the Silver Age of my fan fiction: July 1999 - May 2002. Things had changed a lot in the relatively short time I was away. Icy had started a public chat room in addition to our invitation-only one, and a whole horde of new people were hanging around his site, which took a little getting used to. Overall, the Silver Age was characterized by intense bursts of productivity at the beginning and end, with not a whole lot in the middle (The MST3K fics being the exception to that). But the distractions were fun. Between the three IRC meetings a week, Napster, ZSNES, the battle against Ticx and Flux, and reading Mox Jet and Cain's stories, I was always entertained.)


	23. Battle of the Magi

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 23: ****Battle of the Magi**

By Nanaki

1855 A.D.

"Schala, when I first met you, you wished that I was a little bit older." Ertai started nervously. She just smiled at him and nodded, looking exactly as she had the first time he saw her. He shook off his momentary trance with her beauty to finish his statement. "Well, now I'm a little bit older. I think I know what you meant before too. I mean, 12 and 16 don't exactly go together that well. But, 14 and 18? Well, that's a different story." He shot her a knowing grin.

"Hell, I don't know why I'm being so weird about this. Schala, you're the only girl who ever interested me on more than a physical level. I'm not sure if even Greven appreciated you as much as I do. And, well, I'd like to get to know you better."

Now Schala spoke. "So, you've seen the outside..." Instantly, she morphed into the version of her he had last seen. Older, but pale and sickly looking, and most of all, depressed. "You think you can handle the rest? Trying to fill a bottomless void in my life? Knowing you failed in protecting all of your friends, and that I blame you for it? Knowing that I'll always compare you to your brother, and that I truly believe no one could ever measure up to his standard?" She folded her arms haughtily and turned her back to him.

Instantly, he walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist. "Yes."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Yes?"

"Yes..." He closed his eyes, and instantly, they were seated on the grass in front of the great lake of Zeal. He maintained hold of her with his left arm. "I can bring you back to what we both once knew. Lavos failed to kill us, and now he's dead. We thought we lost everything, but we're both still here, free to live..." He turned toward her, and he gently reached over and turned her chin toward him. A longing look was in her eyes. "...And to love..."

He almost kissed her, but she turned away from him again. "I'd like to believe that Ertai, but there are a few other things."

"I can handle them." He assured her.

"Can you really? Let's start with... the Nooze!!" Instantly, her midsection exploded, and a black, oozing substance covered Ertai from head to toe. "Can you love an organism that consists entirely of the blood of innocents?"

"I... I..." Ertai stammered, unsure of the right thing to say, if there was a right thing.

"Can you love a woman filled with the power of what obliterated your family?!" She demanded, an orange glow in her eyes. More Nooze was appearing from out of nowhere, beginning to flood their location. Schala burst out of it and hovered in the air, her hands glowing now.

"Please Schala!" Ertai stretched his hand out. "If you'll only let me try, I'm sure there's a way!"

"Can you live with the ultimate annihilation?!" She screamed at him, then brought her glowing hands forward and unleashed the full power that had been stored within them. The Nooze around Ertai vaporised, and so did his flesh, leaving nothing but a skeleton.

Somehow, he still managed to plead with her. "Schala... I really would... I would..."

She remained silent now, but raised her hand up again, and unleashed another orange blast right in Ertai's face. "No, please!!" Ertai cried out as his jaw vaporised. "Schaaaaalllaaaaaaaa!!"

* * *

Ertai blinked rapidly as he woke up. As his vision cleared, he could see puffy white clouds drifting lazily across a blue sky, slightly dimmed by the canopy of the Epoch. He realized there were tears in his eyes, and he quickly brushed them away as he sat up. He hated showing any sign of weakness in front of Magus.

"Something the matter?" Ertai's state hadn't slipped past the mage's watchful eye.

"Not really." Ertai sighed, leaning back again. "But have you ever had a dream that just puts you in a weird mood? Like, it's almost as powerful as a real experience?"

"I sure have." Magus' eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "More than I'd like to recall." He snapped out of his own thoughts and turned back to Ertai. "So what kind of "weird mood" did this dream put you in?"

Ertai laid his hands palms up in his lap, and just stared at them. "I feel powerless." He whispered. "As if, no matter how strong I become, I won't have the power to change anything."

"Believe me, I know the feeling." Magus came close to smiling. "You think you'll still be able to keep a lookout?"

"Sure." Ertai sat up, peering intently out the canopy now. "When are we?"

"I'm not sure." Magus replied. "Most dwellings I've flown over are wooden, and all vehicles are pulled by animals. Nothing too advanced."

"We'll be out of here pretty quick then?"

Magus glanced around again. "Looks that way." They cruised in silence for a few minutes, scanning the landscape.

"What's that?" Ertai pointed down at the middle of a mountain range.

"Looks like about seven mesas." Magus dismissed them, looking elsewhere.

"Yeah, but they're all kind of clustered together." Ertai protested. "At that short distance, you'd think they'd all be one mesa, or jagged looking if erosion had split them apart, but they're all pretty smooth." Magus sighed, considering. "Look, we're not just going to bump into that ship Schala might have been on. I think it's pretty obvious that they ended up in a different time than we did. Now, those mesas look like they might have been terraformed. It's worth checking out at least."

Magus did smile now, somewhat amused by Ertai over-arguing his case. He had already decided to do it. "All right, let's go." He pushed forward on the controls, and the Epoch spiraled into a gentle descent.

.

The Epoch touched down about a mile away from the cluster of mesas. Their landing stirred up a cloud of dust. Magus retracted the canopy and stood up. As the dust began to clear, it revealed a robed figure standing in the wind about thirty feet in front of them. With a start, Magus reached for his scythe, but stopped as the figure made no move. After a brief silence, Magus stepped out of the Epoch and took a few steps forward. As the dust cleared completely, he could see a second figure walking from the cluster of mesas toward their location, but it was still a ways off.

Finally, the robed figure revealed its hands to show that it carried no weapon, and leaned its head back to reveal the face of a handsome man under the hood. "Greetings, time travellers." He smiled, then stated simply, "My name is Leng."

Magus was more curious than worried, though casting an eye back to the Epoch, he saw Ertai was getting his sword launcher ready. "How do you know we are time travelers?" He asked before introducing himself.

"It's fairly obvious." Leng smiled in a friendly manner. "For starters, you've got blue hair. That just isn't normal. Second, that machine you're flying obviously wasn't made in this relatively primitive era. And third, my absolute proof is that my sensors detected a temporal distrubance not long ago. I've been expecting you."

"Why is that?" Ertai tried to sound geniunely curious, but the nervousness that came from the fact that he was concealing his sword launcher under the Epoch's control panel showed through.

"This is the only terraformed structure on the planet in this particular decade. It's the only thing that could prove of any interest to you."

Magus finally relaxed. "I am known as The Magus." He said by way of introduction.

"Ah..." Leng smiled again. "I also have the privelege of being a magus, although my enemies see fit to refer to me as 'The Decapitator'."

"Great." Ertai muttered, his trigger finger throbbing.

"My nervous young companion there is Ertai Vecar." Magus introduced Ertai when it became obvious that he wasn't going to introduce himself.

The figure that they had seen in the distance now neared their location, and walked up to stand to the side of and slightly behind Leng. "This is my Lieutenant, Soul Master Raganorn." The chivalrous man bowed in respect. Feeling at ease, Magus walked nearer to Leng, who continued to provide information. "I am the ruler of this fortre..." Suddenly, Leng frowned and jumped back. "What the hell?!" He seemed to be sniffing the air.

"What?" Magus whirled around, scanning for some sort of threat. When he turned back, Leng and Raganorn were both in a battle stance, holding giant claymores that had appeared from out of nowhere. "What's going on?!" Magus demanded.

"As if you didn't know." Leng spat scornfully. "Both of you are flooded with Lavoid magic!"

"Hold on!" Magus shouted. "We both lived in a place where Lavoid magic was used for everything. We had no way of preventing it from permeating our bodies! I hate Lavoids!"

"So you say." Leng snarled. "But it is our sworn duty to wipe out all traces of Lavoid existence from this planet. Your doom is at hand!" With that, Leng and Raganorn leapt forward, both swinging their claymores in a vicious downward chop. Magus rolled to the side of Leng's strike, and whipped out his scythe in time to parry Raganorn's.

"Let's go Ertai!" He shouted.

"I am!" Ertai shouted back as he let loose with an explosive from his sword launcher. 'I just don't have to move to "go."' He informed Magus smugly. Magus' two assailants were hurled to the ground as the explosive detonated, but quickly jumped back to their feet and rushed at him again. They engaged Magus in a lightning fast battle of blades, which should have been impossible for men wielding claymores, and Ertai could barely make out who was doing what.

'This isn't working Ertai!' Magus shouted mentally. 'Those blades pack a huge punch, and they're using them like fencing swords! I can't win this way! You have to turn this battle magical, and fast!'

'All right.' Ertai nodded grimly. He was acutely aware of the fact that he was no match for either Leng or Raganorn, but if "little" Janus could go all out, he'd give it his all too. He jumped down from the cockpit, hands glowing yellow, and ran toward the other three. "Hey!" He shouted, trying to get their attention. It didn't work. "He isn't the only one fighting, you know!" With that, Ertai spread his arms out, and let loose with a Lightning 2. The jagged, arcing bolts whirled out from him in all directions, one hitting Leng right between the eyes. The battle momentarily paused, but that seemed to be all the effect that his spell had.

A moment was all Magus needed. He stretched his left arm out, and a Dark Bomb erupted under Leng, hiding him from view. Leng ran through it as if it wasn't there, barreling into Magus with his shoulder. From the ground, Magus let a massive lightning bolt flow from each of his arms, directly into Leng's head. As Leng frowned and stretched a glowing hand over his downed body, Magus began to think he was out of his league.

Ertai watched with amazement as Magus was engulfed by a white explosion. Leng appeared to be invincible. He turned as a shadow fell over him, and saw Raganorn frowning down at him. "You just can't seem to decide whether you want to be in this battle or not." He observed. "Well, let me make the decision for you." As Raganorn's foot raced for his head blindingly fast, Ertai teleported behind and above him, kicking him in the head on his way back to the ground. "Well, you're a tricky one." Raganorn rubbed his head, then executed a back kick which Ertai also teleported away from, as he had expected. He grunted as Ertai's reappearing foot connected with his jaw. "But all tricks eventually get old. Let's just see how long you can keep this up." Phasing out again, Ertai obliged...

"You call yourself a Magus?" Leng scoffed at him. Magus sat, breathing heavily. He slowly stood up in the crater Leng had just formed around him, his clothes smoking.

"You bet." Magus said simply. Instantly, a lance of Shadow energy launched from his hand, barreling into Leng, and throwing him end over end in the dust. Leng was instantly back up, fire streaming from his feet as he rocketed forward in midair. Not waiting to see what he had in store, Magus mimicked the move and rushed to meet him. As they neared each other, Leng's hand began to glow. He straightened up to cast his spell. Magus continued his charge and punched Leng in the gut, then quickly circled around behind him and cast another Shadow Lance.

Leng was thrown forward, and came to rest in the same crater Magus had so recently occupied. Not giving him another chance to get up, Magus gathered the magical waves for a Dark Matter as fast as he could, and directed the energy to erupt right on top of Leng. He allowed himself a brief smile as Leng disappeared in the middle of the giant Shadow triangles, and the dust from the resulting explosion obscured his view.

Ertai grew more and more confident as Raganorn obtained more and more bruises, while he remained unscathed. He teleported directly in front of the large knight and tried for a roundhouse kick to the head. Grinning, Raganorn grabbed his pivoting ankle and jerked him into the air. Ertai quickly began to teleport again, but he didn't succeed until Raganorn had slammed him into the ground. He hit his head, and suddenly found himself twelve feet in the air. He knew he didn't have time to teleport again before he hit the ground. He hit it very hard.

"Urgh..." Ertai groaned, but quickly rolled to the side as Raganorn's sword descended on his location. Instantly, his sword launcher materialized in his hands, loaded and ready to go. "Choke on this, bastard." He said grimly, and pulled the firing rod. Raganorn jerked his head to the side as the sword raced up. It shaved a part of his beard off, but that was the only noticeable effect. Raganorn kicked the launcher out of Ertai's hands. Ertai considered 'porting it back, but he realized he wouldn't have time to reload at this close range. Instead, he 'ported a sword from his launching supply into his right hand, and stood up, his head whirling.

For once, Raganorn stood still, awaiting his move. "All right, let's see what you think of one of Schala's best!!"

"Schala?" Raganorn's eyes widened. But Ertai was already beginning to yell, and didn't hear his inquiry.

"Huagh!!" Ertai brought his sword up and charged forward. As he neared Raganorn, a mixture of purple and green energy rushed out of the blade in a ragged bolt, tearing a huge gash in Raganorn's armor. The blade, which was now superheated from the spell, passed unobstructed into Raganorn's abdomen.

Raganorn stiffened, but only grimaced as Ertai stepped back. He yanked the blade out, seemingly oblivious to the blood flow, or the smell of burning flesh. "You know, you're beginning to annoy me..."

"Holy crap!" Ertai sputtered. The wound was bad, but it didn't seem to have really hurt him in the least.

Raganorn kneeled down on one knee, and began glowing a bright green. "Comet Charge!!"

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitt!!" Ertai cried as a blazing comet nine feet in diameter rushed at him, and continued to cry as he was hurled through the air, to land in a dusty heap at Magus' feet.

Magus turned around at the sound of Ertai's landing, his back now turned to where clouds of dust obscured Leng's form, if Leng still existed. "I've taken knights like you before." Magus growled at Raganorn. "So I'd advise you to retreat right now."

"I'd advise YOU not to be so overconfident." Raganorn folded his arms. At that statement, several dozen fireballs erupted from the spot where the Dark Matter had detonated, each on a slightly different vector. They curled around, and slammed into the spot where Magus was standing. Ertai's yell of pain was drowned out by the sound of the blast.

When the last blast dissipated, Magus reached down and quickly yanked Ertai to his feet. "All right then." He pulled back into a battle stance, facing the spot where Leng must surely be, "It's time to get serious!!"

"You weren't being serious before?" Ertai asked, incredulous.

Magus continued to keep his eyes locked on Leng's location. "There's a big difference between just fighting and really going all out. It's almost impossible to kill even a normal human if they're fighting as hard as they can. An old lady with one leg could give these guys a hard time if she had a good reason."

"I see." Ertai dusted himself off. "Do we have a good reason?"

"I do." Magus smiled now. "One that's always worked for me. These guys think they're better than I am!!"

"That's a theory you're going to get a chance to prove!" Leng finally rose up into the air. The edges of his robe appeared slightly singed, but otherwise he had suffered no damage. "So, you were holding back before, huh? We'll see. Let's go!'

"You got it!" Magus jumped up into the air as well, gathering Shadow energy in his fist as he punched Leng in the face. Somehow, Leng executed a massive back kick in the air, then whirled around and followed it up with a blast of fire. Magus quickly directed a Geyser to shoot up into Leng, but it looked as if he barely felt it. As Leng flew closer, Magus blasted him with Dark Mist, but Leng bulldozed through that too. About ten feet away from Magus, Leng suddenly halted, then brought his wrists together, fingers spread apart. A golden beam of energy slammed into Magus, carrying him down to the ground, and making a large explosion.

Magus coughed as he pushed himself back up, but barely noticed the pain. 'Beam magic!' He realized excitedly. 'I always thought it was only a legend!' Without bothering to stand up, Magus launched himself back into the air. He nailed Leng with another Dark Matter, then whipped out his scythe as the Shadow energy dissipated. Leng's sword was almost in his face before he even saw it coming. Magus directed a lightning bolt to strike the blade of his scythe. As he parried Leng's slash, the energy transferred over to Leng's sword, and on into him. Magus channeled a blast of Shadow down the two weapons, and directed it inside of Leng. The resulting surge blew Leng's arm off.

Leng growled, and delivered a roundhouse kick to Magus' head before casting a healing spell to restore his arm. The two rushed at each other again, and Ertai could barely follow what was happening, they moved so fast. Scythe swipe. Sword parry. Dark Bomb. Fire 2. High punch. Roundhouse kick. Spell after spell after spell. In an unusual display of physical skill, Magus nailed Leng with an uppercut that sent him flailing back toward the ground. But suddenly, Leng teleported directly in front of Magus, hands glowing red. "Flare!!" Magus was not prepared for the speed with which the spell activated, and it literally blew up right in his face. His burning figure fell to the ground. "Now you're finished!" Leng grinned.

He put his wrists together again, but this time the resulting beam was much more powerful. Ertai could almost feel it throb with energy, and there seemed to be red veins mixed in with the massive gold burst. As the beam connected with Magus, the very ground shook, and the light from the energy blast was blinding. "Oh crap." Ertai stated simply.

But as his vision returned and the dust began to blow away, Ertai was shocked to see that not only was Magus standing up, he was actually smiling! Ertai was even more surprised when Magus began to speak, and it became apparent that he was rhyming. 'I think Leng broke his brain.' Ertai grimaced.

Magus held his left hand out, and black energy began to surround it. "Nail me once: Good for you." He began. Then, lightning began to crackle around his fist in addition to the Shadow. "Nail me twice: Now I can do it too! Hyaaaaaahhhh!!" A beam of energy darker than a starless night erupted from his fist, humming dangerously.

Leng obviously had plenty of time to get ready, and simply cast Reflect. Two seconds later, Magus' beam smashed through Leng's barrier like it was nothing, barreling into him with the full force of its destructive power. Leng was carried high up into the air, then Magus opened his fist, and the beam condensed in a sphere around Leng, where it exploded. Wisps of black vapor were left in a trail behind Leng as he plummeted to the ground.

Raganorn pinched himself to make sure he was awake, then levitated up into the air and raced over to Leng's location. Magus was disappointed to see Leng sit up and cough. "Are you all right sir?" Raganorn kneeled beside him. Leng groggily nodded an affirmative. "What's happening? They were never supposed to win!"

"I don't know." Leng shook his head to clear it. "That Reflect was powerful enough to block ten times as much power as he had used up to that point..."

"So there's no way we can beat him?" Raganorn couldn't believe it.

"No..." Leng smiled, then stood up. "Now it's time for ME to get serious."

Raganorn's jaw dropped. "You mean with all the power you've already displayed, you were just toying with him?"

"Well, he's a very dangerous toy, but essentially, yes."

Raganorn looked down at the dirt. "Man, I feel so powerless."

Leng put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, remember what I told you. All power is relative. No one is ever powerless, and at the same time, no one is ever all-powerful. There are always those stronger and weaker than yourself. Compared to most on this planet, you're incredibly strong. Now let's defeat those upstarts."

"Yes sir!" Raganorn said gladly.

"Uh, Magus?" Ertai called to where he was still breathing heavily inside of his crater. "Why didn't you attack again while they were just sitting there?"

Magus grimaced. "Because I'm all tapped out kid. I used up every last ounce of power on my wavelength, and I hoped it would finish him off."

"Isn't there anything else you can do?" Ertai looked extremely apprehensive.

"I can fight physically, of course." Magus gripped his scythe. "But as long as they've still got magic power, that won't do much good. So unless you know how to control mana or chi, and can teach me in about five seconds, the rest is up to you."

"Mana? Chi? What the hell are you talking about?" Ertai demanded.

"Here they come." Magus gestured with his scythe, not answering him. Ertai quickly glanced back at Leng and Raganorn, but they didn't seem to be doing anything. Then Magus grunted, and he noticed a rain of meteors falling from the sky. Ertai's jaw dropped, but he did nothing else. Magus slapped himself on the head. "God, he's green." Then he shouted, "Cast a barrier, now!!" Ertai gulped, then a yellow shield of crackling electricity surrounded him. Magus looked back up at the descending meteors, which were not far away now, and gulped. "Uh, me too! Hello?!" There was no response from Ertai. "Oh, this is going to hurt..."

Ertai closed his eyes and ears as the sounds of Armageddon roared around him. It lasted fewer than ten seconds, but it seemed like a lot longer to him. Only when the last echoes from the fall died away did he open his eyes. His shield still stood, albeit with several holes. There was a small rock imbedded in his shoulder, which he quickly dug out, grimacing all the while. Just as he began to peer outside the shield to take in his surroundings, he heard a voice yell, "Hey boy, we're still here!" That was immediately followed by a comet smashing through his barrier, sending him tumbling end over end along the ground, to finally settle feeling like he could never move again.

'Oh man...' Ertai groaned to himself. 'I'm sure Magus is out of it too, so now we're really sunk. There's nothing I can do. I am powerless... I can't even get up.' But this was followed by another thought. 'But Schala would get up. And so would Greven, and even Janus, if he were conscious. Through unbearable pain, they would get up.' Ertai slowly pushed himself up with both arms, the simple aching of his bones bringing tears to his eyes. He observed, detached, as Leng and Raganorn's boots descended in front of him.

"Kid, you should have repaired your shield after my Meteo." He dimly heard Leng. "But you didn't, and that mistake has cost you. Are you ready for the ultimate annihilation?"

"NOOOOOOO!!" Ertai was instantly on his feet. Leng and Raganorn jumped back, surprised at the volume of his yell. "I won't be powerless!!"

"I... didn't say you were..." Leng said quietly, but Ertai's hands were already glowing brightly. Leng sighed, then turned to Raganorn. "Well, my friend, I think I just opened a big ol' can of whup ass up on both of us. I must have said just the wrong thing..."

Ertai gritted his teeth, and electricity could even be observed flowing through them. His hair crackled with energy and stood on end. Raganorn looked confused. "Why are we just standing here? Let's blast him!!"

"It won't do any good..." Leng began, but Raganorn had already executed a Ground Swell, aiming it at Ertai. It raced up to him, then seemed to bounce back as the shock wave raced through the ground until it came in contact with Leng, where it finally detonated. "Gee, thanks." Leng dusted himself off. Then, six lines of green energy appeared between Raganorn and Leng. "Uh oh..." They both turned to Ertai.

"Have a taste of the ultimate lightning!!" Electricity crackled all over the surface of his body, the bolts growing larger by the second. "Luminaaaaaiiiirrree!!" The lines of energy converged on a central point, then blew outward, literally blowing away Raganorn and Leng. Raganorn remained down for the count, but Leng staggered back up.

He made no move. "Wait. I won't attack anymore. Just listen for a second..."

But Ertai was nearly blinded by rage at the mere sight of his enemy rising again. "Noooo!! I have the power!! Hyaaaaaahhh!!" Leng gulped as Ertai brought his wrists together. A bit of electricity crackled, but otherwise, nothing happened.

Leng stepped forward. "Look, I can appreciate how mad you are. I never intended for things to get this heated..." Ertai still stood frozen in the beam firing position, his face a mask of rage. "You can put your hands down now. Seriously, I'm not going to do anything else."

"Well..." The rage disappeared from Ertai's face. "At least you were right about one thing!" With that, a golden burst erupted from his hands, and a medium sized beam slammed into Leng, throwing him head over heels. Ertai suddenly wondered how to cut off the beam flow and detonate the existing energy, but he didn't have to. His beam suddenly gave out, and the energy detonated automatically when the end of the beam reached Leng. Ertai sank to his knees, feeling drained. He realized he had overexerted himself. It was similar to yelling so much that you lost your voice, but he felt the loss through his whole body.

"You see?" A gravelly voice spoke up. Ertai turned to see Magus' head lifted up from the ground. "Now THAT was chi."

"Oww..." Leng sat up. "It sure was. I suppose I deserved that."

"So let me get this straight..." Magus began. "You planned this whole fight as some kind of test? You don't really think we're controlled by a Lavoid, do you?"

Leng smiled. "I believed you from the start, but there's no room for weaklings in the fight against the Lavoid race." He stood up, then walked over and offered a hand to Magus. "If you'll come inside my fortress, I can explain in detail..."

.

"All forms of power... ...should be at the disposal of the powerful." - Winnowill, _ElfQuest_

(Nanaki's note: I bet you were wondering when Magus and Ertai were finally going to join the story in earnest. I hope their real introduction didn't disappoint.)


	24. Library of Leng

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 24: ****Library of Leng**

By Nanaki

1855 A.D.

"Welcome, to my fortress!" Leng threw open two huge metal doors as if they were nothing. "This is the center of operations for the Soul Knights. They were originally based in the middle ages, about 900 years ago, but they got so powerful that the Lavoid began to track them down. I had my baby brother Moogoo send them here, the center of the resistence movement against the Lavoid. Raganorn here is their leader."

"Uh..." Magus started to say something, but couldn't decide where to begin.

Leng's expression suddenly grew more dire. "Right now, there are two wars being waged against the Lavoid in two separate eras. Follow me to the information center, and I'll explain more." He gestured down the hall. Magus nodded, and he and Ertai followed him down several flights of stairs, ending up in a room packed to the gills with computer monitors. Leng began switching them on. "One of those wars is taking place in the future. I am from that era. The Lavoid is so powerful then, I doubt any human force could defeat him."

"Well-" Magus began again, but Leng cut him off this time.

"The other war is taking place much farther in the past. There, we have some hope for victory. If we can muster enough men, with enough power..."

"Excuse me." Magus finally got a word in edgewise. "But how bad can this thing be? I mean, his parent was bad news, yes, but "just" three humans were able to get rid of him."

"I'm guessing you were one of the three." Leng smiled a little again.

"Landed the killing blast myself." Magus smiled. "But that doesn't matter."

'If it didn't matter, you wouldn't have brought it up.' Ertai thought at him. He turned in time to see Leng give him a knowing glance, as if in agreement.

"What does matter is the other two humans were basically as powerful as I am. I hate to admit it, but you're more powerful than I. So just how strong is this thing?"

"Well, first describe the Lavoid you killed. Then maybe I can explain better."

"All right." Magus proceeded to tell him everything he knew about Lavos, from his physical appearance, to the types of spells he used, to Magus' first attempt to kill him, and more.

"I see..." Leng nodded. "Sounds like you guys had a basic Class C. They're the average workers among the Lavoid race. The things do get a lot weaker than that, but the "working class" gets stronger too..." Leng pressed a red button on a console, and every screen on one wall suddenly lit up. Magus involuntarily clenched his fists at what he saw. A Lavoid shell, but with a five pronged "eye piece" and additional, smaller spikes sticking out of the main ones. "This is a Class B Lavoid, and he seems to be a strong one too." Leng pressed the button again. "This, is his battle armor." Magus frowned. It looked a good deal like Lavos, but with sharp edges in just the right places to look much more intimidating. "And this, is actually him, the core." Magus' eyes widened in surprise now. "From what you told me of the appearance of your core, I would have to guess that your atmosphere was poisonous to him, and he needed a life support suit when exposed to it. Obviously, this one doesn't. This is what they really look like." Magus stared intently, memorizing every detail of what had just become his mortal enemy. It was a blue skinned man, but with no nose, and glowing orange eyes. Spikes jutted out of his head rather than hair. Longer spikes covered his back. And he had the most arrogant smirk Magus had ever seen.

"I didn't expect them to look so human." Ertai observed, surprised.

"No one did..." Leng drifted off, clearly recalling something.

"Well, he looks like a world of hurt, but appearance means nothing." Magus said. "Just how powerful is he?"

Leng sighed again. "You should know, as the classes go up, their power increases exponentially."

Magus growled. "Ten times! He's ten times as strong as Lavos?" Leng pointed up at the ceiling. "More?! What, forty, fifty?"

Leng had to smile at his disbelief. "A basic Class B is one hundred times as strong as the strongest Class C. And judging from what I've seen him do firsthand, I'd say our boy here is more than basic."

Magus turned back to the wall of monitors. "Does he have a name?"

"Anyway..." Leng plainly chose not to answer that question. "That's why we're mustering as much power as we can to throw against him. Hundreds of men more powerful than myself have perished at his hands. I'm currently the leader of this resistance against him, due to the fact that everyone better than me has been killed or... Well, has been killed. We're not powerful enough to go against him directly yet, so we're constantly searching for ways to undermine his power. Now, I'm sure you two want to join the fight against him."

"You can count on it!" Magus clenched his fist again.

"Yeah!" Ertai said simply, and enthusiastically.

"Magus, you're powerful enough to begin helping me right away." Magus looked like he would have been ready to launch back into battle, had Leng said otherwise. "Ertai, you have an enormous amount of power lying within you, but you can't control it yet. I would recommend that you spend some time training with a good friend of mine, a Mr. Darkness."

"Mr. Darkness? He sounds cool already." Ertai grinned.

"He operates about thirty years ago, and can help you increase whatever you want. Magic, speed, strength, etc."

"Sounds really cool." Ertai smiled, "But how long am I supposed to stay there?"

"As long as you need." Leng said. "I'd recommend a full year. After all that, you'll be able to tear apart a Class C with your bare hands, and you can return to the same moment you left at, or a little later, if you so choose."

"Why don't all of you go train with him then?" Ertai asked.

Leng smiled. "Well, he wouldn't do me much good, but it would be nice to have some time to train. However, if too many of us start increasing our power in one place, the Lavoid will start tracking us down. We're already running a high risk here."

Suddenly, a girl looking to be about Ertai's age appeared at the door. "Brother, what happened? I heard fighting outside, but as usual, the men wouldn't let me go have a look."

Leng turned from her back to Magus and Ertai. "Gentlemen, allow me to introduce my sister, Seraphina." Magus nodded curtly, while Ertai actually bowed. "Sis, these are two warriors who're going to be joining in our fight against the Lavoid. I was merely "testing" them."

"You just love to show off, don't you?" She teased him.

"Not as much as I used to." He sighed. "I need to talk to you later, but can you leave us alone for the moment?"

"Okay." She turned around, and closed the door behind her. Ertai stared at the closed door for a moment, before turning back to Leng.

"Anyway Ertai, there's no reason why you can't go right now. There's a room full of Gates in the very bottom of the fortress. One of them will take you straight to Mr. Darkness' place. Should we expect you back here in a few minutes, or...?"

"Actually, I think I'll come back a few weeks down the road. Magus has put up with me pretty well so far, but I think he needs some time alone."

"All right, we'll see you then." Ertai nodded, and quickly walked out of the room.

"I'm worried about that boy..." Magus looked thoughtful.

"Whatever for?" Leng looked at him, surprised.

"He totally lost it back there, in the fight. He got so mad that he couldn't control himself. I think that's a weakness an enemy could easily take advantage of."

"It's a weakness that can easily be turned into a strength." Leng told him, turning to fiddle with a console. "Unlike you, the boy is in touch with his emotions. Once he learns to bring them under control just enough to focus on the fight, he'll be a force to be reckoned with."

"So you say..." Magus glared at him.

"You could learn a thing or two from him." Leng continued. Magus decided to change the subject.

"Look, I sure wouldn't mind killing another Lavoid, but the main reason I came here was to look for my sister."

Leng looked up, and walked over to another console. "Do you have any idea where or when she would be?"

"No." Magus said simply.

"We'll have to do this the hard way then. Put your hand on this." He pointed to a silver panel on the console. Magus did so, and a bright flash emanated from it. He felt a tingling sensation in his fingers. "Now the machine will scan every time period from the time life began on our world, searching for any DNA that could be a relative of yours, adjusting for the two X chromosomes, of course."

"A machine can do THAT?" Magus asked, surprised. Then scratched his head. "What's DNA?"

"The machine can do it, yes. So we will find her eventually. However, there are almost four billion years to scan. It's going to take a while."

"I've already waited a LONG time." Magus clenched his fist. "But I guess a little more won't kill me..."

.

Ertai found the Gate room fairly easily. There were so many different people walking around the fortress, in so many varying styles of clothes, that he fit in just fine. The lone guard in the room didn't look at all surprised when he walked in. "Where to?" He asked boredly.

"Um... Which one goes to Mr. Darkness' place?" Ertai asked. The gaurd pointed to a sign over a Gate on the far end of the room, reading, "This way to Wilhelm Darkness' training facility." "Okay then." Ertai nodded, then warily stepped around the pulsating blue orbs, until he came face to face with the one he wanted. He reached out to touch it, and it suddenly expanded. He yelled in surprise as he was sucked into the swirling blue mass.

Ertai found himself drifting in a sea of soft, wavy blue lines. But he barely had a good look around before he found himself being spit out inside of a brick building. "You must be the latest from Leng." A voice stated. Whirling around, Ertai saw a man leaning back in a chair, his feet up on a dusty desk, an odd, large hat concealing his eyes. "He doesn't send many recruits my way, you know, so he obviously thinks you're something special." Now the man stood up, revealing blue eyes and silver hair under the hat. He was wearing a brown jacket that came almost down to his feet. "My full name is Wilhelm Lars Darkness, and I've trained the best of the best in Leng's forces. You would be..."

"I am Ertai Vecar." He stated simply. "And I'm here to become as powerful as I possibly can." He looked back at Wilhelm's face, and saw him wrinkle his nose slightly.

"Sorry, that's a name you don't hear too often in 1825." He explained. "Anyway, I can't take your power up to maximum. A good number of the people Leng sends here don't HAVE a maximum, but I can give you a good start. And there's no reason we can't start things off right now, unless you need to rest or something."

"Well..." Ertai began. He sure wanted to rest, but on the other hand, endurance was one of the things he most wanted to build up. "Let's go, Mr. Darkness."

He took his hat off, and left it on the desk. "Please, all my trainees call me Billy." He took off the jacket, revealing a black combat suit underneath. "Let's go."

.

"So Leng, what did you want to talk to me about?" Seraphina asked upon returning, and finding Magus gone.

"Sis, none of our spies are good enough." He informed her bluntly.

"That's because your spies are all MEN." She insisted. "Send a good woman instead, and she'll get you anything you need."

"Think you could be a 'good woman'?" He asked her, not looking up from what he was working on.

"Huh?" She was taken aback.

"I need you to go to 8,000 B.C. and gather as much information on the Lavoid AND the king as possible. As much information on their society as possible. As much information as you can possibly absorb. Besides Raganorn, you're the only one I can count on for sure."

"What brought about this sudden change of heart?"

"We're running short on time. Moogoo and Habeeb are both in the same time now. I don't know what's come over them, but we need a strategic advantage, and we need it fast. You're the only one who can give it to me."

"It's nice to be appreciated for a change." She smiled, albeit a little nervously. "You can count on me, brother." She turned to leave.

"Oh, and as always..." She turned back. "If you run into father, do your best to kill him."

"Yes..." She nodded, but her smile vanished as she left the room.

Leng grimaced as he turned back to the console. 'The situation is getting grim. We can't handle any more than we're doing now. It's actually a good thing Ertai won't be back for a few weeks. Maybe we'll have things pinned down by then...' He put his head down on the console. 'And if not, then it's ALL up to him...'

.

"That kid's gonna be stronger than all of us." - Piccolo, _Dragon Ball Z (first version)_


	25. Lohkiarn Gladiators

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 25: ****Lohkiarn Gladiators**

By Nanaki

3500 A.D.

Tempo grunted as the gate spit him out, throwing him to his knees. He looked up, and saw a vast expanse of dust stretching to the horizon in front of him. He turned around, and saw... a vast expanse of dust stretching to- "What the...?" He turned to Lion, who had landed a few yards away from him. "Where the hell is the city?"

Lion stood up, and pointed to the northeast. "That way... a long way."

Tempo squinted into the distance, trying to see anything. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me, when there's only one human city on the planet, you always know where it is." Lion looked at the arm that was pointing, and brushed the dust off of it.

"Only one human city?" Silva, asked surprised. She turned to brush the dirt off the seat of her pants. "What happened to all the others?"

"They were all destroyed during Armageddon." Lion folded his arms, and continued looking north.

"Wait a minute." Schala said, groaning as she stood up. "Isn't Armageddon the end of the world?"

Lion nodded. "True, the planet itself wasn't destroyed, but the surface was completely decimated."

Tempo frowned, and looked at the ground. "Completely decimated..." Then he looked up at Schala. "I wonder what could cause that."

Schala clenched her fist. "The Lavoid did it, I'm sure. His father completely wrecked the surface of my planet. It stands to reason that his offspring would be able to do the same thing."

Tempo turned toward her now. "This happened to your planet too?"

"Yes, although a reliable source gave me the impression that it would eventually recover."

"Yes... We're still in the process of recovering." Lion said.

"But... If everything was destroyed, where did you come from?" Silva asked.

Lion smiled. "Actually, twenty four humans survived the disaster. All life on the planet would have ended then if it wasn't for human technology. As it was, and still is today, we can only scrounge up the resources to keep Lohkiarn going. Someday, when the planet has recovered, other human cities will spring up. But for now, this is it, and with the Komodaera running amok, I'm not sure we could handle more anyway."

"Where did the current crop of Komodaera come from then, after Armageddon?" Tempo asked.

"Let's get moving." Lion nodded to the northeast. "We'll talk on the way."

"Why are you being so helpful all of a sudden?" Schala walked up to him.

He shrugged. "I guess I'm in my element. Besides, the sooner I can get you guys on your way, the sooner things can get back to normal for me. Getting back to your question Tempo, from all the evidence we have, all the populations of Komodaera that were living on the planet at the time of Armageddon were destroyed along with everything else. This new batch showed up after several human generations had passed, and resumed their ancient war against us. For some reason though, they'll never venture within Lohkiarn, no matter what." The others couldn't think of any more questions at the moment, so they walked on in silence.

.

Several hours later, it was a different story. "Can we take a break?" Silva asked, half polite, half complaining. "It's really hot out here."

Tempo immediately stopped walking. "Yeah, I'm still beat from the fight too."

Lion and Schala came to a halt. "Very well, if you must."

Schala sat down next to the other two. "Where are you getting all of this endurance?" She asked Lion. "If my body was alive, I'd be just as tired as these two."

Lion smiled, and stretched his arms out. "What, you think this pigmentation is for decorative purposes only?"

"Huh?" He enjoyed the confused expression on all three of their faces.

"The word "'synth" is short for Photosynthesizer." He laughed as looks of comprehension appeared.

"You mean...?" Tempo drifted off, unsure of exactly how to phrase it.

"That's right. While you've all been sweating and complaining, I've been snacking on sunlight."

"Hey!" Silva scolded him as an idea hit her. "Why don't you just float all of us over to the city? I saw you float yourself before."

"Well, I could..." Lion seemed to consider it. "But it's better if I don't. I don't want to attract the Komodaera's attention, and anyway, the more power I charge up, the better."

"You really think they'd notice just four people?" Tempo sounded annoyed.

"Maybe they wouldn't detect us just by sight, but they have devices that can pick up on 'synth power. If I use my power, it'd be like a homing beacon for them." He stood there for a second. "Aren't you guys ready to go yet?"

"No." Tempo laid down to prove it. "Lion, do you have any idea why someone would want all of us to come back to this era?"

Lion turned to Silva. "Didn't you say that you had fought with Moogoo?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, the Moogoo connection is the only thing I can think of. I know he's been in this era before, and if he's here now, he'd probably try to get you to come have a rematch with him."

Tempo sat up again. "Moogoo's been here? Why? How? I remember those guys who tried to arrest me said that he was "Lord Habeeb's" younger brother."

"I don't know how he got here, but Habeeb lives in this time, so that may have something to do with it."

"Tell us about Habeeb... please." Schala added.

Lion scratched his chin. "Well... Habeeb is the greatest Soultech soldier this time has ever seen. Starting at age twenty three, he rose up quickly through the ranks until he became their top general. But starting at age thirty, he'd disappear for months at a time, with no explanation for where he had been. The only thing that signaled these departures is that his little brother Moogoo always showed up right before. He disappeared for the last time about three years ago, and no one has seen him since."

Tempo snapped his fingers. "Didn't Raganorn say that Moogoo first showed up in his time about three years back?"

Schala nodded. "It looks like the best thing we could do here would be to find Habeeb, if he's even here."

"Where would be the best place to start searching for him?" Tempo asked Lion.

"That would have to be the Soultech building. He may not even have gone anywhere. They may have just kept his whereabouts a secret this whole time. I don't relish the thought of going there..."

"You ever going to tell us WHY you hate Soultech?" Tempo asked.

"Not unless something extraordinary happens." Lion smiled a little. "Come on, let's go already." Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. "Uh oh..." Lion grimaced. "Jump!!" He shouted, and quickly began hovering in the air. Next, the dirt burst upward, and two huge mechs rushed out of the ground. Tempo, Silva, and Schala were sent flying. The mechs looked similar to the robots Tempo and Schala had run from before, but these were over fifty feet tall, and looked to be much more heavily armored. "How did they track us?!" Lion cursed to himself, before shouting down at Tempo. "We're in deep shit! These are Gladiator C-23.zecs! They're specially designed to resist Soultech, magic, and especially 'synth powers!" Tempo began to back away from them. "They can also fly almost as fast as Komodaera ships, so don't even think about running away!"

The nearer of the two Gladiators whirred, then trained its largest missile launcher on Tempo. "Attention! You are all under arrest. Throw down your weapons and get your hands in the air!"

Tempo drew out his mace, then looked at it for a minute. "No Soultech huh? Well then... Let's get physical!!" He rushed at the Gladiator. "Ah-rekka..."

"Damn man, you're crazy!" Lion observed, but flew down low to see what he could do as well. Tempo was furiously smashing his mace into the robot's leg, but only making small dents in it. The robot suddenly kicked out, and sent both Tempo and Lion flying backwards, to land in a heap in the dust.

Schala quickly leaned down next to Lion. "How much power can it absorb?"

"Huh?" He rubbed his head. "More than we've got."

"I'm not so sure..." She drifted off, looking at Tempo. "Tempo, pump out everything you've got at that thing! Once you get started, Lion and I will add our power!"

Tempo stood up. "But...!"

"You won't die!" She reassured him. 'I refuse to believe it could happen like that...'

"All right..." He reluctantly brought his arms up across his chest, and green fire surrounded him. He looked up at the Gladiators, which seemed to be momentarily at a loss as to how to handle the situation. "Get a load of this!!" He stretched both of his arms out, and a blazing green beam of energy slammed into the nearer mech. Electricity crackled all over its surface, and it began to absorb the power. Tempo gritted his teeth, and his output doubled. The mech staggered back. The other Gladiator began aiming its missiles at them.

"Now!!" Schala shouted. She forced the largest beam of holy energy she could pump out to fly from her hands, and Lion added his own solar powered blast. The electricity on the skin of the mech arced outward, striking the other Gladiator. The one taking the brunt of the blast sank to its knees, and stopped moving.

"Hey, she was right!" Lion turned to Schala and smiled. "C'mon Tempo! With your energy occupying the other one, I can blow that sucker apart!"

"All right!" Tempo, now much more enthused, put his hands together and launched an even bigger blast at the second Gladiator. It staggered back, trying to get a missile launched, to no avail. Lion observed excatly where Tempo's energy was striking and aimed carefully. This time, the solar blast vibrated with its sheer power, and rushed into the Gladiator, where it proceeded to blow the mech apart. The shockwave from the explosion ripped into the first mech, and threw all the humans back. Tempo allowed the fire surrounding him to die away. "Just how wussy are the Soultech guys in this time anyway? I mean, if that's all it takes to overload one of those things..."

"It was my power, not yours." Lion stated it as a fact.

"Oh yeah?" Tempo stood up. "Let's see you take me out, tough guy!"

"Perhaps later." Lion smiled. "For now, let's just get to the Soultech building."

.

Nine hours later, Tempo finally found himself recognizing some of the scenery in Lohkiarn. His feet were killing him. "Man, I'm going to sleep well tonight."

"If we can find a place to sleep." Lion said calmly. "We better hurry now though. It's getting dark, and the Soultech building will close pretty soon."

Tempo could see the huge building sticking up above the others. "We're almost there. Chill. Where are we going to go once we're inside anyway?"

They rounded the corner, and were coming up on the main entrance. "Don't worry. I know what to do. If there's any indication on where Habeeb is in there, I'll..." He stopped in his tracks.

"You'll what?" Tempo stopped as well, and gave him a funny look. Lion was staring in open mouthed awe at something. Tempo followed his line of sight, and saw a brown haired girl walk in the main doors of the building. He waved a hand in front of Lion's eyes, getting no response. "Hey man, are you all right?"

"Tess..." Lion whispered. It almost seemed that he was afraid to say the name. "Tess...!" He immediately began walking forward at a rapid pace, reaching a hand out to the doors. Then, he broke into a run. "**TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS!!**"

"Crap!!" Tempo started to follow him, but Lion was quickly gaining distance on him. "C'mon ladies, I think the plant man just broke his brain!" They ran inside, and saw dozens of Soultech employees looking at the entrance to the stairway in bewilderment. Tempo charged up the stairs after him. He could hear Lion yelling up the stairs. He noticed Silva was falling behind on the uphill run, but Schala was keeping up with him just fine. He pressed on, up the many flights.

At about the fiftieth floor, he decided he'd had enough. He didn't know how Lion had gotten the energy to go charging up here. "All right, hold on Schala."

"What?" She was confused, but quickly complied.

Tempo quickly grabbed hold of the railing, and shouted. "Negative Gravity!!" As the effect gained a hold on his body, he used the railing to aim them into the open space between the flights of stairs, and they quickly "fell" up to the top of the building. Tempo cancelled the skill right before they smashed their heads into the ceiling, and grabbed onto the railing there. He heard Lion shouting, followed by the sounds of weapons firing. "Crap!!" Tempo hurled Schala over the railing, then scrambled over it himself. They ran down the hallway that opened up before them. Lion was pushing with all his might against three guards dressed in blue jumpsuits, and was almost breaking through in his fanatical frenzy.

"Let me through!! Now! I swear, I'll..." His voice choked off as he grew too angry to speak. Instead, a bright yellow glow began to surround him.

Tempo ran up, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Lion, no!!"

"You dare to-?!" Lion didn't finish his sentence, but instead dealt Tempo a backhand punch that sent him sprawling to the ground. Suddenly, a new voice entered the picture.

"Everyone, stop, please!!" At the sound of the voice, Lion's glow disappeared. The three guards stood down slightly, and stepped apart enough for Tempo to make out the brown haired girl he had seen going in the doors down below. The girl gasped. "Lionel?"

"Tess..." Lion stretched a hand out, tears in his eyes. "Is this... Can this be real...?"

She nodded slightly, smiling, but looking like she was beginning to cry as well. "Yes. It's me." Lion tentatively stepped forward, as if she were an illusion that might disappear. Then he covered the remaining distance between them with blinding speed, and latched his arms around her so tightly Tempo wondered how she could breathe. "Oh Lionel..." She managed to choke out between sobs. "They told me... They told me you were dead..."

He pulled back enough to look her in the eyes. "They told me that you were going to die..." He immediately hugged her to him again. "Don't ever leave me again! Don't ever leave my sight!"

"I won't! I won't!" She choked out happily, crying into his shoulder. Lion tenderly ran his fingers through her hair, as if checking to make sure that it, too, was real. Tempo felt a lump in his throat, and found himself missing Rena. She was the only one he had ever felt that intensely about. He managed to tear his eyes away from the unfolding drama long enough to steal a glance at Schala, and saw that she wore exactly the same expression that he must have. The three guards looked absolutely bewildered.

Lion turned back toward them, the object of his affection still tightly wrapped in his arms. He was grinning broadly now. "Come in guys. Sorry about just now, Tempo."

His special lady peeled herself away from him, but maintained a death grip around his waist. "Shut the door, and guard it with your life." She addressed the guards.

"There's... There's so much I need to know." Lion told her.

"Lionel..." Tears reappeared in her eyes, but they weren't happy this time. "I can't. Not yet... This is too much."

"Uh..." Tempo ventured to speak up. "There's quite a bit we could stand to know too, apparently."

"Of course." Lion smiled at him. He pulled Tess around for another long embrace. "Of course... Just give me a few more minutes, okay?"

"Okay..." Tempo whispered. As he watched them, he suddenly felt empty inside. Almost without thinking, he put his arm around Schala's shoulders. She put her arm around his waist. And they waited.

.

"It's... It's not a dream!" - Yusaku Godai, _Maison Ikkoku_


	26. Golden Age of the 'Synth

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 26: ****Golden Age of the 'Synth**

By Nanaki

3500 A.D.

As the guards let Silva in the door, still looking very confused, Tempo and Schala sat down to form a semi-circle around Lion and Tess. Finally, Lion was sure that she wasn't about to just disappear, and they both sat down, in as close proximity as possible. "Well..." Lion started. "There's a whole ton of stuff you're probably wondering about. Where should I start?"

"Uh..." Tempo glanced to his left quickly. "How about her?"

"Actually..." Schala held up a hand. "I believe an explanation of the 'synth would help out a lot."

"Yeah." Silva agreed. "What exactly is a 'synth? And what's a prototype, since you seem to be one?"

Lion stretched back, and cracked his knuckles. "Oh boy, lecture mode time." He leaned forward again, and started in. "Well, this all leads back to Armageddon again. It happened somewhere around 2600 A.D. No one is really sure. Anyway, it was always thought that some alien being caused the disaster, and Schala seems to back that up. We don't really know, but it seems that a large number of humans tried to fight it... and failed. Thus, people decided that stronger humans would be the only way to go, to prevent such a disaster from happening again. And thus, humans needed a new energy source to use beside magic. Solar power was one of the more obvious choices, and more powerful. But a way to successfully get the human body to accept chloroplasts eluded scientists for quite some time.

"Finally, 300 years ago, a way was discovered. It was a great one too. Not only could humans obtain energy from chloroplasts, but the gene for chloroplasts would be passed on to any offspring. Meaning the first 'synths would pay for themselves if they'd only shack up together. Anyway, ten people volunteered for the first infusion. From them, twenty three new 'synths were born. That second generation was probably the most powerful, from all accounts. It's a pity they're not still around today. The power that chlorophyll gives people is truly astounding. You know that, essentially, the sun is one big ongoing nuclear explosion, right? Well, humans suddenly became nuclear powered. The energy they could wield was unbelievable. They could fly, teleport, breathe underwater, and in outer space... Not only that, but it appeared that they had gained some regenerative abilities as well. Minor injuries healed in a matter of hours, and potentially fatal wounds ended up leaving nothing but a small scar.

"These new warriors were treated as the saviors of mankind. It was thought that no force would be able to stand up to them. In fact, an offensive against the Komodaera was even being planned. But that all changed 200 years ago. Exactly 200 years ago, Taurus, the strongest 'synth, decided that, since 'synths were so superior to normal humans, they ought to rule over normal humans. To get his message across, he went on a rampage, and killed several thousand people before any of the other 'synths could even respond. Once the others got there, he simply fought with them until he was going against twenty five of us at once. Then, somehow, he managed to absorb the power of all twenty five, killing them in the process. He stormed into the capitol building, and quickly took control. It was thought that no force could possibly stop him.

"But Ocello, my great grandfather, went to get rid of him. Ocello believed that 'synth powers had no definite maximum, and that if he tried hard enough, he could indeed defeat Taurus. So he arrived at the capitol building, and he and Taurus fought a truly epic battle that levelled the capitol and seven city blocks. Taurus was killed. My great grandfather lost an arm, but survived. It boggled the minds of the scientists who tried to explain it. Taurus had been many times more powerful than Ocello, and my great grandfather had also only been forty years old at the time. He couldn't offer them any explanation either, other than that he had really gone all out, and Taurus hadn't taken him seriously until it was too late."

"Wait a second!" Tempo finally broke in. "What do you mean your grandfather was ONLY forty years old?"

"Oh." Lion smiled. "Along with all the other benefits, 'synths enjoy double the lifespan of a normal human. Taurus was eighty five at the time he went on his rampage. My great grandfather was the equivalent of a twenty year old normal human."

"So what does that make you?" Silva asked. "You told me you didn't know how old you were..."

"Well, I don't know exactly. But I'd guess I'm somewhere around thirty three. Anyway, after that incident, normal humans decided that the 'synths were just too powerful for their own good, and that their powers should be taken away. Most of the 'synths didn't resist this decision. After all, they only had the power because they were supposed to fight some stupid alien that no one had ever even seen. The entire 'synth population underwent genetic engineering. They got to keep their chloroplasts, but it was as if they'd been neutered. The chloroplasts still give energy, but it can't be used except in ways normal humans can use it. The longer lifespan also stayed, but that was it. The only one who refused this was my great grandfather. He still believed strongly that there would be a second coming, and that the 'synths would have to stop it. Given what he had done for them, the government allowed him and one female 'synth of his choosing to remain unaltered. From that day on, the unaltered 'synths were referred to as prototypes. And ever since that time, the power of my family has been getting weaker, as they breed with the non-prototypes. Though I'd like to think how Ocello did, that 'synth power has no definite maximum.

"And, for the last 200 years, people have remained bitter and distrustful toward the 'synths, because of the actions of Taurus. They're also very afraid of us prototypes, because they know that if we really wanted to, we could do exactly what Taurus did, but this time there'd be no one to stop us. That's why the Gladiators were invented. That's also the main function of Soultech today... to prepare for a possible prototype war. Normal Soultech powers aren't a match for a true prototype... but there's a hell of a lot of them, and I've actually only got 1/8 pure prototype in me."

"That's why you hate Soultech?" Tempo raised an eyebrow. "Simply because they could defeat you?"

"No..." Lion narrowed his eyes. Tess put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Now you're getting into my personal history... and it's a long and sad one. At least it was, until today. It all started twenty years ago..."

.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Superb... Superb power!" - Velius, _Final Fantasy Tactics_


	27. Lion's Story: In The Beginning

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 27: ****Lion's Story: In The Beginning**

By Nanaki

3480 A.D.

Lion almost caught Ty as he rounded a corner in the hall, but his younger brother ducked out of sight at the last second. He was getting fed up with running in a circle on the 354th floor of their apartment building, but his mother didn't want them playing out in the street. As Lion rounded the corner, Ty was already gone, only a slight yellow energy residue remained in the air. Up at the next corner, Lion saw a foot start to come into view. Jaguarena must have doubled back on him again. Well, she wouldn't get away with that this time. Lion launched himself into the air, and crashed head on into the person who had started to come around the corner.

Upon slamming the person hard into the ground, he was disappointed to find that it was not Jaguarena, but a man in his early twenties, dressed in a business suit. "Ow...!" He groaned, then sat up. "Wow, you're pretty strong, for a kid."

"Well, looks like you've already run into one of our prototypes." Lion looked up to see a man in his fifties behind them, looking amused.

"Who are these guys?" Ty asked as he came running back to see what had happened.

"I dunno." Lion shrugged, then decided to find out. "Who are you guys?" He asked the elder of the two.

"We're from the Photosynthesizer station." He replied. "We need to talk to your parents."

Lion stood up, and suddenly assumed a dignified stance. "Follow me." He stated in an authoritative voice, and quickly marched down the hall. Ty observed him, perplexed, and then did his best to mimc his march. The younger man stood up and whispered to the elder, "That kid is really twelve years old? He looks six, at the most..."

"I told you," the older man sighed, as if he had repeated this often, "they only age at half the speed of a normal human."

"That's right." The two turned around to see an absolutely adorable little girl hurrying up the hall toward them. "We get double the fun." Jaguarena smiled, but only briefly. "Once we grow up, that is. It sucks having to be a kid twice as long."

"And how old are you?" The younger man asked.

"Sixteen." She replied. "And there's nothing "sweet" about it when you look like you're eight."

"I really am eight!" Ty chimed in.

"You sure are, short stuff." She agreed, hoping he wouldn't feel the need to share any more.

"We're here." Lion announced solemnly. A section of their apartment wall dematerialized, and the two men walked in, peering around. As Lion closed the wall up again, he suddenly smacked Ty on the back of the head. "You're it!"

"Hey, no fair!!" Ty shouted. As an afterthought, he whirled around to tag Jaguarena, but only a yellow energy residue remained where she had been. Ty growled and flew off in pursuit.

.

Lion's mother was the first to see the new arrivals, and she gasped slightly. "I take it then that you know why we're here." The elder nodded his head.

"The second coming..." She whispered. She shook her head, and then walked toward them. "I suppose it's good to see you again, General Tarquin." She turned to the younger man, and offered her hand. "Pleased to meet you, I am Pantheraia."

"Uh... Thomas. Thomas Stevenson." He drifted off a bit as he shook her hand. He could almost feel the energy flowing into him.

She smiled a little. "Don't worry, we seem to have that effect on people." She turned around as Lion's father entered the room, and instantly narrowed his eyes.

"Tarquin." The man nodded.

"Leopardano." Tarquin responded, and let the silence linger for a few moments. "You know we wouldn't be here if it wasn't necessary."

"Of course." He nodded, not looking any friendlier. "And what "necessary" excuse do you have for taking our children away?"

"This." Tarquin held out his hand, palm up. He pushed a button on a small device in his hand, and a holographic image of the planet sprang up. It slowly rotated for a minute, then a huge, yellow beam of energy erupted from the surface, flying off into space. Tarquin froze the image. "One month ago, this tremendous energy blast was observed in the southern hemisphere. From our intelligence reports, the Komodaera investigated, but could find no clue as to what caused it." He rotated the image some more, still frozen. "As you can see, it's diameter is over one fourth that of the planet's."

"It looks like 'synth energy." Pantheraia observed.

"It does look like it, yes." Tarquin nodded. "But, do you think it's even remotely possible that a 'synth could generate that much power?"

"I didn't think anything could..." Leopardano peered closely at the globe. "How do you know that a living thing caused it?"

"We don't..." Tarquin admitted. "But if anything could..."

"It would be what caused Armageddon." Leopardano finished for him. "Still, do you really believe that the second coming will happen now, when the planet is still suffering so much from the first?"

"We have no real proof." Tarquin shrugged. "But we feel that it wouldn't hurt to start training your children. And don't worry!" He held up a hand to silence Pantheraia's as yet unspoken protest. "It won't be training in the traditional sense of the word. You'll still get to see them. We obviously can't be as tough with them as with more mature 'synths either. We just want them to know how to really unleash their power, if they ever need to."

"Soultech would freak out if they heard you say that." Leopardano finally smiled.

Tarquin grinned in response. "That, my friend, is why we are not Soultech. So, do we have your permission?"

"Yeah." He resigned himself and nodded. "But you know that if we receive any word of them being mistreated, I'll level your whole base to get them back."

"I know." Tarquin nodded. "They'll be just fine, you have my word."

.

Thomas warily searched through the hall, looking for the kids, carefully peering around corners before stepping anywhere. Tarquin couldn't help but laugh as Ty bowled into him, knocking him onto his back. "Yeah!" The little boy shouted enthusiastically, before looking down. "Oh, sorry."

"It's... all right..." Thomas wheezed, the wind knocked out of him.

"Where are your brother and sister?" Tarquin asked politely.

"Right heeeeeere!!" Lion and Jaguarena came from opposite directions, blazing through the air with a brilliant yellow light, and slammed hard into Ty. Tarquin was surprised that the two would use such force in a mere game, and also that Ty seemed to have no problem raising an energy shield that was more than enough to keep them off of him.

"No fair!!" He shouted once they were all standing still, yellow steam rising into the air. "I was already it!"

"We were trying to get you triple it." Lion dusted off his hands. "Nice block, by the way."

"Uh, well kids." Tarquin began to get their attention. "Your parents and I have talked, and you're going to be coming with us for a little while."

"What for?" Lion asked.

"So we can show you how to use your powers."

"We already know THAT." Jaguarena said boredly.

"I mean, for more than just a game. In case you ever needed to really unleash them to their fullest extent."

"You mean we'll be even faster? Even stronger?" Lion asked.

"Well yes, that's part of it."

"Sounds good to me!" Lion declared, and began walking toward the lift that led to the ground floor. "I'm going." Jaguarena and Ty shrugged, and followed him.

.

Tarquin regarded the three youths as they stood in the center of the training facility, or the "battle arena," as it was more popularly known by. As usual, Jaguarena and Lionello looked absolutely fearless, and as usual, Tigered did his best to follow their example. Their attitudes puzzled him. They did not seem nervous at all about leaving their parents, or about coming here, a place they had never been, full of people they had never met. Perhaps the most puzzling thing was that they didn't have a superior attitude either, at least not that he had noticed. They didn't comfort themselves in the knowledge that they were better than everyone here. The hundreds of armed guards simply didn't worry them. Tarquin switched on the intercom in his booth above the arena. "All right..." he was about to say "kids," but changed his mind, "lady and gentlemen. We're going to do a preliminary exercise to see just how much you can do. You don't need to be worried. None of the stuff in here will seriously hurt you, but you will get roughed up pretty bad if you don't try to defend yourselves. Okay?"

"Let 'er rip General." Lion gave him a thumbs up. He and Jaguarena remained in their same, impassive poses, while Ty put on what would best be described as a "game face." He growled, and scanned the various recesses in the metal walls, trying to determine where the first threat would come from. Suddenly, an orb shaped robot raced out of the wall, heading straight at him. Ty yelled in surprise, then held up his right hand. A blazing beam of energy vaporised the orb, and continued on into the recess it had come out of, completely destroying all the orbs that were stockpiled inside.

"Shit!" Thomas belatedly pressed the button to shut the door, which now scraped along its track and only closed halfway. "Looks like we're going to have to try harder."

Tarquin scratched his head. "Are you sure these kids have only had minimal exposure to the sun in the last three days?"

"Positive sir."

"All right." Tarquin sighed. "Abandon the sniping routine, and go straight to strength in numbers."

"Will do." Thomas pushed about thirty buttons at once.

Ty whirled around as the arena was suddenly filled with sixty of the orb shaped drones. They all hovered unsteadily in the air, making an ominous humming noise. Ty looked up at Lion. "It's still all you, kid." He smiled down at his brother. Ty nodded. He slowly stretched out his arm again, and instantly, ten of the drones were engulfed in a large yellow explosion. He slowly turned around, and the explosion spread as he turned. The remaining drones rushed in, trying to avoid the blast as much as get Ty, but he put out his left hand, and a huge yellow wave took out all of them that got in close. Sixty molten heaps of metal fell to the floor.

"Good God!" Tarquin exclaimed. "He doesn't even know how to tie his shoes, but he can do THAT?!" He put his hand to his head in disbelief. "All right, time to up the ante. Send out the fighters."

Thomas turned around in surprise. "Are you sure?" After seeing Tarquin's face, he decided that was a stupid question. "How many?"

"All of them!"

"Y-yes sir." Thomas whistled uneasily. He could feel a lawsuit coming on.

Lion and Jaguarena glanced at each other as the arena was filling with hundreds of humanoid robots. "Is it go time for us?" Lion asked.

"Yeah, we shouldn't drain the kid." She replied, looking at Ty, who didn't seem tired in the least. Then, her voice took on a more authoritative tone. "Power up!" All of them began to yell, and their volume and pitch increased as the yellow glow around them grew. Tarquin could tell that they were doing it for FUN more than anything. If they weren't even worried about the robots then... then... he wasn't sure what would happen. The robots advanced around them, forming a tight circle. Then each front robot held both hands forward, and an energy shield sprang up. Jaguarena hunched down, as if getting ready to start a race. "Ready... go!!" The three literally blasted outward, shattering the robots' energy shields with ease. They flew through the crowd, fists held forward, simply barreling through anything that got in their way. The robots' attempts to hit them were in vain, as their limbs vaporised when they touched the yellow glow. In less than a minute, all of the robots were just piles of scrap on the floor, a few of them sparking. The three 'synths settled back into the center of the arena.

Tarquin sighed in defeat. "Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"No sir." Thomas replied quietly. "Uh, looks like they're waiting for you to say something."

Tarquin smiled, and turned the intercom on again. "That was very, very good. I'm actually not sure how much more we can teach you..."

"But you haven't seen our best move yet!" Ty protested, sensing that because Tarquin had started talking again, the fight was over.

"Ty, we don't need to do that." Jaguarena reprimanded him.

"But I wanna!" He shouted.

Thomas turned to Tarquin. "After what we saw them do, is it safe?"

"The arena's outer shield is more than enough to contain any attack of theirs." He nodded confidently. "All right kids..." He paused as Jaguarena glared at him for the use of that word. Oh well, too late now. "You can if you want to."

Jaguarena turned to Lion. "What do you think bro? You up for a fusion?"

Lion shrugged. "Sure. I can handle it."

Ty grinned. "Yeah! Fusion! Fusion!"

"Okay, okay!" Lion smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We're doing it. Now get ready." The three backed apart until they formed an equilateral triangle, each about five feet apart from the other. Ty and Jaguarena began to glow. Lion didn't, but two ragged yellow beams came out of his torso, and slowly fed into the other two. A glow began to appear from the floor, and a yellow bubble began to rise up, growing bigger by the second.

Tarquin began to have a really bad feeling. He whipped out the projector he had shown Leopardano, and turned it back on. He froze it at the beginning stages of the energy beam, and then looked back at what was happening on the floor. "It... It isn't the alien..." He whispered. "It's them..." The bubble on the floor grew bigger, and the kids began to raise their hands into the air. "It's THEM!!" He shouted. "Evacuate the base!! Right now!!"

"Sir?!" Thomas whirled around in surprise. Tarquin's face paled, and speech failed him. The bubble on the floor burst, and a brilliant burst of light raced upward and outward, vaporising everything in its path.

Once again, a beam of energy with a diameter equal to one fourth that of the planet's raced into space...

.

"I've never heard of anyone gaining this much power..." - Vegeta, _Dragon Ball Z_


	28. Lion's Story: The World Is Not Enough

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 28: ****Lion's Story: The World Is Not Enough**

By Nanaki

3480 A.D.

Tarquin slowly opened his eyes as the brilliant light dissipated. He was standing in the middle of a field full of melted rubble, but he had suffered no damage himself. Thomas sat up a short distance away from him. Tarquin saw the kids lower their arms, finally looking slightly tired. He turned around, and saw that the entire base had been laid to waste. "Do you have any idea how much this cost?!" He shouted at the 'synths, unable to quite comprehend the full magnitude of the event yet.

"YOU said your shields could handle it." Lion responded, not turning around. "It's not our fault."

"Sir, forget about the cost!" Thomas said excitedly. "These three combined are even stronger than Taurus was!"

"True... Very true." Tarquin said, calming down. "Considering their great grandfather was the one who beat Taurus, I suppose we should have expected it." He made his way through the wreckage to where the kids were standing. "Well, I think it's safe to say there isn't anything we can teach you that you don't already know." Then he paused. "How is it that all of us are still alive anyway?"

"I made it so that it wouldn't hurt living things." Lion explained. "We had the safety on, if you will."

Tarquin had to smile at that. "Looks like you're prepared for everything. Once we can round up some sort of transportation, we can take you home."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that." Lion dismissed the concern, and rose up into the air. The other two followed. "We can find our way from here." With that, their bodies assumed horizontal positions, and they flew off toward the horizon.

"Incredible..." Thomas whispered. "It's as if they think they're invincible."

"They might be, if we don't do something." Tarquin said. "I'm sure everybody noticed already, but all the top brass is going to have to talk about this."

.

Twenty four hours later, Tarquin sat at a large, round table at the top of the Soultech building. Across from him him was the president of Soultech, and top military officials filled out the rest of the meeting. "Well, I assume you all know why we're here." Tarquin began. "The energy blast observed one month ago, and the one performed by the three prototypes yesterday, are almost identical. Fortunately, both blasts rocketed out into space, and did no damage that we could detect, aside from the destruction of the 'synth labs base."

"One question." A general spoke up. "If that beam is really as big as you say it is, and I don't doubt it, I saw it fill the whole sky, how is it that only the base was destroyed?"

"Well, if you'll look here..." Tarquin lit up the holographic projector once again, and this time zoomed into the surface where the beam had come from. "You can see the beam has quite a steep miniscus at the point of origin. That, combined with the curvature of the planet, is what saved everything else."

"But if it hadn't been aimed straight up...?"

"Then we'd be screwed."

"So what do we do about this?"

"Well, the solution to this problem is quite simple." The Soultech president leaned forward. "We've got to kill them." Many of the military officers raised their eyebrows, but not all of them.

"Now, now, there's no need for something as extreme as that." Tarquin smiled. "We only need to kill one of them. It takes all three to power that energy blast."

"But, how can we kill them?" One of the officers asked. "And even if we do, won't their parents basically come and destroy us?"

"Most likely they will." Tarquin nodded. "That is why we need to get one of them killed in an actual combat situation. Any assassination or suspicious accident will most likely result in Leopardano fragging our asses."

"So let's get rid of him too." The Soultech president suggested. He was met by glares from almost everyone. "Ah well, I didn't think so."

"For the time being, their parents can control them." Tarquin leaned back. "They are just kids, after all, so we have a while to plan. However, once they start rebelling against their parents, as all young people do, we'll need to have something ready."

"So which one are we going to kill?" Another general spoke up.

"Does it matter?" Tarquin shrugged. As individual 'synths, Soultech can handle their power. That three person beam is the only thing we have to fear."

"You better be right about this Tarquin." The Soultech president glowered. "I don't want any nasty surprises. If they could generate that beam individually, the world would be at their mercy..."

"As I've stated, they're only children." Tarquin glowered right back. "They're not capable of "nasty" surprises."

.

After everyone had gone, the president sat back in his chair and poured himself a shot of whiskey. It had cost him over three million credits, being that it was from before Armageddon. 2300, to be precise. As he was pouring out the contents of the bottle, he caught a glimpse of a robed figure in the reflection off its surface. "Gaah!" He shouted, and promptly dropped the bottle onto his desk. The contents began to spill out. Nevertheless, he reached for the bottle very slowly. "Don't break, don't break, don't break..." He willed the bottle to stay in once piece. As his index finger lightly touched the surface, the bottle shattered, and whiskey rained off the sides of the desk. He put his head down on the desk in defeat, then realized that that hadn't been the best idea ever, as broken glass cut his forehead, and the alcohol seeped in. "Aw, craaaaap!!" He jerked his head up and tried to staunch the blood flow with his hand.

"Are you quite through?" The voice that cut through the following silence reminded the president why he had dropped the bottle in the first place. He whirled around in his desk chair, and came face to mask with the mystery man. He was dressed in a combat suit, and had a utility belt with an incredible array of devices arranged compactly on it, as well as similar belts on both legs. However, his combat ready appearance was diminished by the hooded red cloak he wore. Underneath the hood, the president could make out one fairly normal eye, and one glowing green electrical array where the other eye would have been. He couldn't tell whether it was some sort of goggle, or an implant. The rest of his face was obscured by an incredibly black mask. Long hair somehow made its way out from under the hood, though it appeared to be badly singed.

"Who the hell are you?!" The president demanded.

"I'm someone who can make your problems go away. I hear you need help with some 'synths."

The president's eyes opened wide. "Well... yeah. How do you know that? That has to be the most heavily secured meeting I've ever held!"

"I'm from the past, and the future, and every time you can imagine. I know everything about you, and about Ocello's descendents. Now, do you want those 'synths out of your hair or not?"

"That depends... on what it's going to cost me."

"Only that you'll lend me Soultech forces for backup, in case our primary forces fail."

The president gave him a very skewed glance, before extending his hand. "Well, since you've already cost me three million for that whiskey, why not? You've got yourself a deal, Mr...?"

"Gazuga. Just Gazuga." He walked over to the president's huge bay window, and opened it. This was especially intimidating, as the window was not made to be able to open. He just extended his hand, and the huge pane of glass shattered into millions of pieces, raining down to the street miles below. He stepped up to the sill, then turned back for a second. "By the way, it'll take about eighteen years or so, so don't get impatient." With that, he jumped out the window. The president rushed over and looked out, but he was nowhere to be seen. He winced as he took his hand off his forehead, and blood dripped out, falling away into the distance. He slowly walked back to his desk, and sank down in the chair.

"Eighteen years huh? Damn, that gives those kids an awful lot of time to rampage, if they feel like it. This better be worth it..."

.

"How low can you get? I love it!" - Setzer Gabbiani, _Final Fantasy VI_

(Nanaki's note: I just want to give a quick shout out here to Novalon and Rast for the reviews. I love the enthusiasm guys, especially after all this time. Yes Rast, the story WAS last updated in 2002. And between May of 2002 and May of this year, I was only online for three months in the interim, not all at the same time. Yes, I most certainly am going to finish it. A less spoiler-intensive review would have been nice, for those who haven't read this before, but oh well. After I get Chapter 50 posted here, it won't matter. I'm TRYING to give Icy the exclusive on the new chapters, but he seems completely AWOL, so you may well see the chapters after 51 here first. That's it for now...)


	29. Ertai's Training: Running the Gauntlet

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 29: ****Ertai's Training: Running the Gauntlet**

By Nanaki

1825 A.D.

"Hyaaaaah!! Hah! Huh! Huh! Hah! Hyah!" Ertai yelled out as he charged Billy with a shiny new broadsword. He struck out as hard as he could, grimacing all the while. Billy easily deflected the blow, and Ertai went rushing past. Billy whirled around and kicked Ertai in the back, hurling him into a wall. Ertai teleported directly above and behind Billy, bringing the sword down in a huge overhead chop. Billy rolled out of the way and planted a foot square in his chest, sending Ertai flying in a large arc, to land hard on his back. Ertai slowly got up, panting, and leaned on the sword.

"You do know that those primal screams don't really do anything for you." Billy dusted his hands off.

"Yeah, but it's kind of fun, and helps to get the rage out anyway." Ertai continued panting, then looked up. "This thing just doesn't move as fast as I want it to."

"Yeah, I've been getting that impression." Billy held up his hand, and the broadsword disappeared. Ertai fell forward, sprawling onto the ground. A long, thin sword appeared in Billy's hand, and he held the hilt out to Ertai. "My friend, meet the rapier. These were invented centuries after clumsy old broadswords. With one of these, you can kill a guy five times before he even hits the ground." Ertai slowly pushed himself up to his knees, and took a closer look. At least half of the hilt was covered by a small metal shield, and the rest had a wire frame surrounding it. "This is a shell guard rapier, to be specific. Other types don't directly cover as much of the hand. They look a little more artsy, it's true, but when your hand is impaled, you don't much care about how good your sword looks." Ertai took it, and took a few experimental swings. "Just remember, the main function of this sword is stabbing, not cutting. You'll want to keep the side to side action to a minimum."

"I don't really know how many guys with swords I'll be going up against anyway." Ertai turned around, then saw a blur out of the corner of his eye. "Crap!" He brought up his new rapier just in time to parry Billy's thrust. "Gyaah!" Ertai backed up rapidly as Billy jabbed at him with lightning speed. As Ertai strained to block everything, he realized that the rapier was indeed a lot faster than his previous sword. He also wondered where the hell Billy had pulled his own rapier from. He hadn't seen him draw it or anything... 'Enough of this!' He thought as his arm began to burn from the exertion. He teleported behind Billy and aimed a mighty thrust at his back. He hit thin air instead, and dove to the floor as Billy tried the exact same move, albeit without teleporting. Then he cried out in geniune surprise as he felt the blade pass through his right shoulder. "Damn it! What the hell did you do that for?!"

Billy yanked the sword out, and began twirling it in midair. "You think a real opponent is going to stop just because you hit the floor?"

Ertai grimaced as the blood poured down his shoulder. He stood up, and struggled to raise his right arm. "Stop this, jerk ass." His sword launcher appeared in his hand, loaded and ready to go. It hurt like hell, but he managed to pull the launching rod, and a large broadsword rocketed at Billy, who, incredibly, simply reached out and caught it in midair.

"Well, a fellow gun enthusiast eh?" Billy raised an eyebrow as he threw the sword down, then drew two pistols so fast that they appeared to simply materialize in his hands. "I call this the Nutcracker." Billy raced in close before Ertai could move, then pointed both barrels at his chest.

Ertai looked down in disbelief, then back up at him. "You've got to be kid-" He was cut short as six shots were fired, hurling him backwards. "Aaaaaaauuuuuuugggggggghhhhhh!!" Ertai screamed his lungs out, until he felt his throat filling with blood. He hazarded a look down to see a huge amount of blood gushing from his chest. "You're crazy!!" He managed to shout. "You used... ugh... real ammo?!"

"At this particular moment, I'd worry more about healing yourself."

"I don't KNOW any..." He stopped, and coughed up more blood. "Healing spells!!"

"Well you'd better find a way."

"Forget you!" Ertai shouted, but then wondered at the wisdom of this argument as his vision began to grow dark. 'This guy's so crazy... he may just let me die.' He scrunched up his eyelids, and forced his eyes to focus. 'I'll show him!' "Hyaaaaaaaah...!" Ertai began to charge up, and electricity began crackling all over his body. As the current ran through the bullets inside of him, they began to heat up from the intense energy. As they grew wamer, all the blood around them dried instantly, basically sealing the wounds. Ertai woozily got to his knees, and fell over. He cursed, then got to his knees again, and shakily stood up, electricity still crackling all over him. Smoke was pouring out of the bullet holes in his skin now.

"Uh, you lost a lot of blood there." Billy pointed out. "You really should find a way to heal before you..." He trailed off as Ertai growled angrily, his eyes becoming an opaque yellow. "Well then, if you're going to do something, do it."

"I am..." Ertai assumed a fighting stance, albeit very shakily, and growled again. "I'm gonna kick your ass so hard, your butt'll be touching your teeth!!" He pulled back, and then raced forward. "Hyaaaaaah...! Hyah! Hah! Huh! Hah! Hyah!" He tried to pound Billy's face in several times in a row, before dropping down and nailing his instructor with a sweeping kick. As Billy fell to the ground, Ertai aimed two massive lightning bolts at his prone form, and punched downward at the same time. Bricks from the floor went flying, and a huge cloud of dust rose up. When Ertai could see again, only a smoldering crater remained where Billy had been. He whirled around to have a look, but too late. Billy's foot connected with his back, hurling him into the crater. He flipped over, his sworch launcher materializing in his hands. He let another one loose at Billy. The gunslinger seemed to easily step aside, and he reached down and pulled Ertai up by his collar.

To Ertai's surprise, Billy then set him back down. Then, he leaned close, and whispered one word: "Goten."

"Goten?" Ertai asked.

"Goten!!" Billy shouted, and then nailed Ertai with about twenty thousand roundhouse kicks in a row, or at least it felt like it. When the last one connected, a huge white burst of energy accompanied it, and threw Ertai back into the opposite wall.

He gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, and several bones shattered. "I'm not finished yet!" He wheezed. "L-Lumin-"

"Yes you are." Billy sighed, and a small fireball shot out of his hand, nailing Ertai in the head. The teen collapsed, the energy he had been gathering dissipating. "Well, you weren't kidding about the rage. Where'd that come from?"

"Wouldn't you have been mad too?!" Ertai gasped.

"At your age, I would have given up after I got shot." Billy scratched his chin. "And you didn't even heal yourself. That's gotta hurt."

"Well, I don't give up." Ertai managed to flip himself onto his back. "That's the only reason I'm still alive."

"Hmm... This sounds promising." Billy smiled. "At any rate, you've earned a short break. Take five." With that, Billy left the room.

'A SHORT break?' Ertai wondered, struggling to breathe. 'Oh, this is gonna be fun...'

.

"Bwaaaaaaaauuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhh!!" - Enzo Matrix, _ReBoot_

"Out of my way, jerk ass!" - Homer Simpson, _The Simpsons_

(Nanaki's note: Just to clear up a potential misunderstanding, the "Goten" in this chapter refers to the Goten X technique in Xenogears, not Son Goten of Dragon Ball Z fame. Yes, the Homer quote is new. I felt Ertai's use of the term "jerk ass" in this chapter demanded it.)


	30. Lion's Story: Dates and Stuff

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 30: ****Lion's Story: Dates and Stuff**

By Nanaki

3497 A.D.

Lion took in his surroundings with interest as he entered the main doors of South Lohkiarn High School. He was still a little bitter about his fifteen month "summer" vacation being over, but he didn't look nearly as miffed as the hundreds of other teens pouring into the doors. The only thing was, he was in his late twenties. In fact, he might be thirty by now, but he wasn't sure. His parents weren't allowed to tell him, for some reason that similarly could not be divulged. As he entered the building, he immediately felt himself being judged by the large groups of people hanging around in the halls. Some looked at him in fear, others in respect. Still others ignored his 'synth aspect altogether, and judged him a nerd or a bad ass, just like everyone else. He recognized a few faces from his eighth grade class, but they looked a lot older now.

At the main four way juction of the halls, a group of guys with Soultech emblems on their jackets stood around, trying to look as cool as possible while doing it. They would be the latest batch of cadets, and almost all seniors. He felt the urge to steer clear of them, but they were right in his way, so there wasn't much chance of that. Instead, he approached them directly. "Soultech," he nodded curtly.

"Lionello." The apparent leader nodded curtly back, then his expression brightened a little at Lion's look of surprise. "There are only three prototypes in the school system, you know. I think almost everybody here knows who you are."

Lion surveyed all the serious faces, and tried to lighten the mood. "So, do you guys hate me or what?"

The leader scratched his chin. "Well, we don't hate your sister. Because of her, you're safe, for the time being." Lion wanted to respond with a scathing counter, but judging by the leader's expression, they all knew that Lion could destroy the whole school in a heartbeat if he wanted. They could too, but it would take them two heartbeats, so he had the advantage. He could see that most of the flunkies were glaring at him angrily, but there was some definite respect in the leader's glance.

'Kept in check by their own hormones.' Lion smiled. 'Well, saves me the trouble.' "I'll keep that in mind." He said dryly, then walked on through their circle. As he was walking away, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of someone approaching the leader from the hall to their right. Something prompted him to turn around, and he was very glad when he did. Occupying his field of vision was the most stunning girl he had ever had the pleasure to lay eyes upon. No, stunning was the wrong word, he realized. There were plenty of "stunning" girls out there that he'd like to have sex with, but would have to think carefully about anything else. This girl, on the other hand... She had that much rarer kind of legendary beauty. She was less sexy and more geniunely, well, beautiful. If she had asked, he would have married her on the spot. Realizing that one or two of the Soultech guys were glancing in his direction, he quickly turned around and was on his way.

At the next corner, he found Jaguarena surrounded by a group of guys. She was somehow managing to pay equal attention to all of them. Lion observed that they were also almost all seniors. But then, a woman in her thirties with the body of a seventeen year old probably couldn't stand any of the younger ones. Smiling, Lion swaggered through the mass of guys until his sister noticed him. "Hey you, what's going on?" She asked, and Lion couldn't help but smile at the angry looks that appeared on the guys' faces when he took her attention away from them.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to let me borrow the Skyshroud Ranger once in a while." He asked casually. In fact, he realized he was being over the top casual, but in high school, that was just equivalent to being extra cool.

"Hm?" She raised an eyebrow. "And why would you suddenly be needing to use my ship?"

"Well, you know..." He trailed off, but she looked at him in a way that suggested he'd have to give her more than that. "Dates and stuff."

Jaguarena thought about it for a minute, then sighed. "Well, as long as you clean up when you're done." Lion turned a little red as he realized exactly what she meant. "Stay out of the chairs, and bring your own blankets for the floor too, because I don't want to have to deal with THAT."

Now Lion turned really red, and gulped, before smiling weakly. "Well, now I don't ever want to touch anything inside of there again. And since we've just indirectly had a discussion about my bodily fluids, I'm heading for the bathroom. I'll see you later." Lion made his way out from inside the circle of seniors that towered above him. He took comfort in the fact that he was much older than they were, and that they also seemed a little nervous about Jaguarena's frank discussion. Once he was out of sight of her group, he turned the issue over in his mind. He really hadn't had that in mind when he brought the subject up. But now that he did have it in mind, he couldn't help thinking about it. Once again, he pondered whether or not he should hop in the sack at the first opportunity that came along, or wait until he found someone he really cared about. The idea of "saving himself" sounded corny and somewhat feminine, but then again, he wasn't exactly comfortable with just hopping into bed with someone he didn't have feelings for. Then he sighed, and laughed at himself at the same time. It was very unlikely that he would have to make that decision any time soon. He was snapped out of his trance as the siren sounded, and warning lights flashed in the hall. He headed off to his first class, Current Events. It was an elective, and not one he had wanted very much, but such was the life of a freshman. At least it meant he could show up late a lot.

However, he felt he should be on time on the first day, so as to make a good impression. He arrived in the room, and relaxed as he saw that it was mostly full of freshmen and sophomores who had also not been able to get the electives they wanted. He dropped into a seat, and then recalled Jaguarena's advice on how the best way to look cool and casual was to actually be cool and casual. He propped his feet up on a desk, and forgot that the other people were in the room. He quickly realized that he was trying a little too hard to relax, as strange as that sounded. The palm of his left hand began to glow yellow. He quickly straightened up a bit, and the glow disappeared. Then he sat bolt upright as the girl he had seen earlier began walking into the room. She couldn't really be in this lowly class, could she? She could, and... ...so could the lead Soultech guy. They walked into the room as one, his arm around her shoulders. Lion clenched his fist and looked down. He consoled himself by concentrating, and feeling the tremendous power flowing throughout his body, just as he always had before when such a situation came up. 'Like I ever would have had a shot anyway.' His brain thought in spite of itself. He unclenched his fist. 'Shut up!' He thought at his involuntary first reaction. Still, he didn't relish the thought of trying to steal her away from her boyfriend. First, because it just wasn't the right thing to do, and second, because unless he used his powers, the boyfriend could majorly kick his ass. Using his powers in a situation that didn't require them was heavily frowned upon, to put it mildly.

As the teacher walked into the room, he just sighed and tried to forget about it. Most likely, none of it would ever matter. He would just pine after her for a couple months, saying and doing nothing, until a new object for his affection came along. That was how it had always worked so far. The teacher stepped up to address the class as the siren sounded again, and everyone looked up expectantly. More accurately, Lion noticed that everyone was pretending to look up expectantly, but most of them were stealing glances at him at every opportunity. "Good morning everyone." The teacher started in, "I'm Mr. Earl. As I'm sure you are all aware, this is Current Events. To answer a question I'm sure I'll be asked at least fifteen times this period, yes, you can try to transfer out of this class, but good luck. Now, to get things started, let's look at today's top current event..." He paused, and pointed at Lion. "You."

Lion was surprised, but rather than let the teacher grab the attention for talking about him, he decided to take control of the situation. "Well, everybody's been looking at me all morning." Lion smiled. "How about we start things off with a little Q and A session?" Mr. Earl nodded, stepping aside. Lion got up, and began to arrogantly swagger up to the front of the room. However, his brain reminded whatever controlled his coolness that this was not the impression he wanted to give her. Instead, he assumed a normal walk, and turned around in a dignified manner. "Okay, as Mr. Soultech there..." Lion pointed at the Soultech guy, gesturing for him to speak. He might as well know the name of his arch nemesis.

"Matt." He said, smiling, but giving Lion a curious look at the same time.

"As Matt said to me earlier, almost all of you probably know who I am. Are there any questions that pertain specifically to me, rather than just the fact that I'm a 'synth?"

The class looked at each other, each expecting someone else to ask a question, until Matt raised his hand. "Well, sure. Why were you gathering energy when I walked in?"

'He's a sharp one.' Lion made a mental note. 'I'll have to watch myself when I start putting the moves on his girlfriend.' Lion then frowned a bit. "Putting on the moves" sounded too crude. It definitely did not do justice to the girl he was thinking of. But he couldn't think of a better way to phrase it at the moment. "I wasn't "gathering" energy at all. I just almost accidentaly released some."

"Then why did you gather energy before you came in here?" Matt frowned. "School isn't exactly a combat prone place, you know?"

"I couldn't help that. My cells gather the energy automatically, no matter what. I just "hold it in" until I need it."

"Really?" Matt was surprised. "I didn't know that about 'synths. Doesn't it get tiresome though, constantly keeping it in check?"

"Do you get tired of controlling your bladder?" Lion asked, prompting giggles from much of the class. "It's pretty much the same thing. Sure, it's easier to let it out, but it's no problem holding it in. And unlike drinking a gallon of water in one sitting, storing up a large amount of energy has no adverse effects."

"I have a question." Lion's heart skipped a beat as he realized the girl of his dreams was looking right at him. And she had such a lovely voice too... He stopped himself as he was beginning to drift off, quickly realizing that he could learn her name the same way he had learned Matt's.

"And, that is, Miss...?" He gestured for her to provide her name. It was a little more obvious this time around, but hopefully not enough for anyone to really notice.

"Tess." She responded.

'Ah, Tess. Tess...' Lion turned the name over in his mind. 'That is surely the most beautiful name ever created by... whoever's job it is to think up names.' He snapped out of his semi-articulate thought as he realized he had already missed the beginning of her question.

"-really the one who was responsible for that "world destroying blast" seventeen years ago?"

Lion was glad that he had heard most of the question. "Well, partially. It takes me, Tigered, and Jaguarena to power that beam." Lion noticed several guys in the room drift off into trance like states at mention of Jaguarena. He was puzzled. Sure, she was his sister and all, but he thought he would have noticed if she was that hot.

"Can you still do that today?" Lion was snapped back to attention. How his attention had managed to stray from the vision of loveliness in front of him, he would never be able to figure out.

"Still power that beam? Well, we haven't tried it in a long time, but I don't see any reason why not. We only get stronger as we get older. Until we get to be old geezers, anyway." Then, the rest of the class jumped in with their questions, which pretty much all pertained just to the fact that he was a 'synth. How fast could he fly? Had he ever been in space? Had he ever killed anybody? Finally, the period was winding up, and Mr. Earl gestured for him to finish up. "Okay, everybody, I guess that covers about everything." Then he paused. "But, before we go, I've got a question for you, Matt." The senior pointed at himself with a questioning look that undoubtedly endeared him to almost everyone watching. "What are you doing in the freshmen overflow class, Mr. Super Cool Senior Man?"

Matt leaned back in his chair. "I admit, it's pretty much only because my girlfriend is in here."

Lion's brain dropped the subject of Matt faster than a fat cow pushed out of a spaceship. "And why are you here?" He asked Tess.

"Well, she's the daughter of the Soultech president."

'She could have answered that herself!!' Lion shouted in a spittle inducing rage, but only in his mind. That hadn't exactly answered his question anyway.

"Well, someday, when I'm in charge of Soultech," Then, the magnitude of what had just been said finally smacked Lion on the back of the head. Daughter of the Soultech President? Oh, shit. "I'll have to always know every last detail of what's going on, so I thought I might as well get used to it now."

Lion nodded in acknowledgement, but he was deep in his own thoughts now. The daughter of the president of Soultech was the girlfriend of a Soultech cadet, who was also a "Super Cool Senior Man." This was going to take a lot of work...

.

"You're... beautiful." - Prince Ashitaka, _Princess Mononoke_


	31. Lion's Story: Dumpster Confessions

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 31: ****Lion's Story: Garbage Dumpster Confessions**

By Nanaki

3497 A.D.

Lion was sitting around on a bench in the halls, eating his lunch. He was cool enough that no one really thought he was a dork, or gave him a hard time, but no one was in a hurry to hang out with him either. A couple of the freshmen girls waved as they walked by, and he forced a smile as he waved back. 'Why does everyone call them "freshmen girls" anyway?' He wondered. 'Doesn't "freshwomen" make more sense?' He boredly searched through his sack, looking for something that he might actually want to eat. What had seemed sufficient when he was making his lunch at 7 a.m. really sucked now.

The sound of girls gossiping came from around the corner. Lion was about to ignore them and go back to staring out the window, but then he recognized the voice that commanded his full attention whenever he heard it. "-thought you said it was over for good?"

"That depends on what day you talked to me." Tess sighed. "No, we're still together."

"So what're you going to do when Mattheus goes off to the academy?"

"Well, I'm not going to just sit around waiting for him. I think we'll end up seeing other people."

Lion sat straight up, then kicked himself mentally as his lunch bag made a lot of noise. He tensed. 'Let's see, should I be cool, or should I be a wuss?' Then, he heard someone stand up, and footsteps came toward him. 'Wuss!' He quickly decided. He stood up, and started to run away. As he charged down the hall, making as little noise as possible, he realized that he wouldn't be able to get around a corner in time. He frowned, and a yellow burst surrounded him, sending him rocketing down the hall. He realized he had miscalculated as he flew out the school doors, and quickly skidded to a stop. 'Well, at least I got away.' Then, he looked down, and had to laugh at what he had done. 'God, that was pathetic.' Following that, he was hit by another realization. One section of his brain seemed to be yelling at the one that had just made that snap decision. 'She's gonna see the energy residue, doofus!'

He threw the doors back open, and rocketed back down the hall in the exact direction he had just come from. He let his energy fade as he neared the spot in the hall he had started from, and found Tess and another girl waiting for him. "Uh, hi Lion." Tess smiled, but gave him an odd look. "I thought you weren't supposed to use your powers inside the school."

"Well, not officially, no..." Lion admitted. "But the halls are pretty empty right now, so I figured it was safe enough. Then he smiled politely, and walked past them. "Well, good day ladies." With that, the yellow glow surrounded him again, and he took off.

"Well," Tess' friend smiled, "judging from the peanut butter smudged all over that idiot's face, and the half eaten peanut butter sandwich lying here, he listened in on our whole conversation."

.

About a month later, Lion was at school early, for no reason he could discern. He found the door to the room Current Events was in open, and walked inside. He quickly found a seat, and started staring out the window. He reflected that he should really do some homework, but he just couldn't bear to get to work this early in the morning. He boredly turned in his seat as the door opened, until he realized that Tess was walking into the room. "Oh, hi Lion." She smiled at him. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I'm wondering that myself." He drummed his fingers on the desktop, looking surprisingly cool and collected. At least, he thought so. "Why are you here?"

"Do you know where Mr. Earl stores the poster paper?"

Lion shrugged. "Not exactly... What do you need it for?"

"We need to make posters for the smashball game on Friday." He puzzled this over for a second, before recalling that she was in Leadership. Well, that stood to reason. Lion scanned the room, and spotted a large roll of paper on the top of one of the closet alcoves, right under the ceiling.

"Here it is." He floated through the air up to it, then descended slowly, handing it to her as he landed.

She smiled at him. "Is there anything those powers of yours can't do?"

"Oh yeah." He replied, forcing a smile, and making sure she knew it was forced. 'They can't make you love me.'

"Well... Thanks for your help." She replied. "See you in class pretty soon."

"No problem." Lion smiled, and raised his hand in a mock salute. He watched Tess disappear out the door, and then kicked himself. 'That was my chance!' He realized. 'That was my big chance to tell her how I feel! We were completely alone, she was in a good mood...' Lion slumped back into his seat. 'Aw... man.'

'Well, I never thought I'd see the day when a 'synth would salute me.' Tess reflected as she walked down the hall. 'They all seem to be so full of pride when it comes to anything Soultech. I know he just did it as a joke, but he did it without thinking first. Doesn't he care that I'm the daughter of the president of Soultech? Jaguarena sure seems to...' She weighed the options carefully in her mind, and found only one that made any real sense. 'I'd say that boy has a crush on me...'

.

After the first siren rang, and people started pouring into class, Tess walked right up to Lion's desk. He looked up, surprised. "I think I've figured something out." She began. He merely raised an eyebrow in response. "I'm pretty sure that you have a crush on me."

On the outside, Lion appeared to remain the same, but every muscle in his body tensed involuntarily. 'Should I tell her? Should I deny it? Should I wait until later? Should I just sit here like a doofus until everyone in the class is staring at me?' Groaning inwardly, Lion slowly sat up straight in his chair, then said calmly, "Tess, calling it a "crush" hardly does it justice." 'Wow, that sounded pretty good.' He began to smile.

She was momentarily taken aback too, but then said, "Look, it's nothing against you or anything-"

'Noooooooooooooooooooo!!' Lion forced himself to maintain a smile.

"But Matt and I have been together for a long time, and-"

"You don't need to say anything else." Lion held up a hand.

"Then... you understand?"

"Whether I do or not doesn't make much difference, does it?"

"No, I suppose not..." She frowned, but couldn't think of anything else to say, and slowly walked away.

Lion let his head fall to the desk, 'Ow, dammit!' and he stared out the window, a blank expression on his face.

.

As he walked out the back door the of the school that day, something made him deviate from his normal path. He walked around to the garbage compacting area behind the school. He stopped, stared at the wall for a minute, then punched it as hard as he could. Cracks radiated out from the point of impact. 'Damn it Tess!' He thought, then paused for minute. 'I always THINK. I actually wanna say something, for once in my life.' "Damn it Tess." He said out loud, though quieter than his thought had been. "Why can't you see that this isn't just a normal high school crush? Every time I see you, I'm instantly put in a good mood. But I long to have more than just a good mood, and the longing is painful. Every time someone says something bad about you, I feel the rage boiling up inside of me. I want to beat the living crap out of them, because you're perfect. Your eyes, your smile, the way the light hits your hair in the morning... All perfect. I want to see that perfection every day when I wake up, and every night when I go to sleep, and as much as possible in between." 'That's pretty selfish...' He told himself. Then he looked up and sighed. "And I just poured my heart out to a dumpster. That's sad, self. Just sad. Why can't I tell HER that?"

Then, the door to the cafeteria a few yards down the wall slowly opened. "I... I think you just did." Lion froze in place, and looked up, to see that the windows to the cafeteria high up in the wall were all wide open. The door finished opening, and Tess slowly walked out, looking very nervous. "Did you mean what you just said? All of it?"

Lion paused, a worried expression on his face. 'Should I try to deny it? No, now is definitely not the time. In class was the time. It's too late now.' "Of course I did." His smile was geniune. "I don't make a habit of lying to myself."

"Maybe I was a bit hasty before." She looked at the ground, avoiding his gaze. "If you feel that strongly... Well, I don't know what's going to happen, but I'll try not to rule out any possibilities."

"Tess... Thank you." Lion's smile broadened. "And... I'll try to avoid the garbage dumpster confessions in the future." 'From now on, if I'm feeling something, I'll tell you directly.' Lion looked up at the sky. 'SAY that, you doofus!' He lowered his gaze again. 'Still can't do it... Oh well, at least I made some progress today.' "Well, guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow." He started to walk away. "And I'll be loving every minute of it." Tess smiled a little at that, which caused his grin to widen until it came close to breaking his face. Lion calmly walked back around to the front of the building. He stared at the ground, then suddenly rocketed into the air, a brilliant yellow glow surrounding him. "Yeeeeaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhh!! Eat my energy residue Mattheus!! Now, not only do I have the power, I have the feeling too!!" Lion blasted between the city's high rises at an insane speed, managing to avoid crashing only because he knew the city layout by heart. He dropped down onto the roof of his building, and charged inside. He practically broke the wall down in his eagerness to get in.

But once he got in, he stopped in his tracks. His family was all gathered around a projector, staring at it intently. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Lion, come have a look at this." Leopardano waved him over, a grim expression on his face. Lion's smiled vanished, and he walked over to the projector. He saw that they were looking at a rather large globe of the planet, and there was a red glow a ways to the south of Lohkiarn. No, it wasn't to the south, it was BELOW Lohkiarn.

"The hell is that?" Lion frowned, still too used to his day at school to speak formally.

Leopardano pointed to a status display below the globe, and specifically to an angry looking energy signature. It was incredibly jagged, and Lion had never seen anything like it. "That, is the alien."

.

"If you don't tell me what you're thinking, then I won't be able to understand..." - Rinoa Heartilly, _Final Fantasy VIII_

(Nanaki's note: The scene here where Lion only realizes that his perfect chance has come AFTER it's over is sadly, sadly based on a similar incident from my senior year of high school. Unlike Lion though, I never did find an opportunity to go for it. Yet another reason I'm still pissed at my younger self. While both Lion and Tempo are based on me to a certain extent, Lion is actually more like me than Tempo is. The superior attitude, the contempt for society in general, and especially the way he's terrified of the girl he loves... All sadly true to me.)


	32. Lion's Story: Weapon Invasion

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 32: ****Lion's Story: Weapon Invasion**

By Nanaki

3497 A.D.

"THE alien?" Lion was taken aback. "You mean... you mean... THE alien?!"

"Yes." Leopardano nodded simply. "The reason we exist."

"We'd still exist without him!" Lion folded his arms. "We just wouldn't be 'synths."

"No, that's not true at all, I'm afraid." Jaguarena spoke up just as Leopardano was opening his mouth.

"How do you figure that?" Lion glared at her.

"Well, first off, a lot of the original 'synths probably wouldn't have gotten together if they were just normal people. That's probably true for Ocello's ancestors, from what I know. Second, even if the family line did continue, different members probably would have had kids at different times, and we wouldn't be here right now."

"Well, we might've been born earlier or later..." Lion suggested.

"No, someone else would have been born later. Do you realize how lucky any of us are to be here? The egg half of the combination changes every month, and that's the stable side of the equation by far. Only the one egg and one sperm that made us would have resulted in us. Even with the same egg, any other sperm cell and it would have been someone else. It's a one in a million chance that any of us are here at all, and if you take away the 'synth factor, we're toast."

"If you say so." Lion frowned. "But I think you've got sperm on the brain, Jaguarena."

"Not since last..." She trailed off as she caught Leopardano's angry expression. "I mean, how rude. The point is, we owe our existence to the fact that we're 'synths, and we're 'synths because of that angry looking blip on the screen right there."

"Hence, it's the reason we exist." Leopardano finished. "Thank you Jaguarena, for that explanation which told me way more than I wanted to know."

"No problem." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Are you sure this is the real thing?" Lion peered intently at the planet.

"Well, not one hundred percent, no." Leopardano pushed a few buttons on the projector console. Another energy signature appeared below the first one. "But this energy signature here is the one that we think was detected on Armageddon. Look how similar it is to this new one."

"They're just about the same, all right." Lion frowned.

"Whoah, look at this!" Tigered gestured excitedly at the globe. They all looked up, and observed that the red glow now appeared much farther to the north.

"It's nearing the surface." Leopardano growled. Suddenly, a light lit up on the console. He pressed a button, and Tarquin's gravely old voice could be heard throughout the room.

"You see it?"

"Yes sir, indeed we do."

"You know, despite the severity of the situation, I can't help but laugh at how quickly all those people who were afraid of another Taurus changed their minds."

"I bet." Ty laughed. "Don't worry sir. We're all ready to kick some ass here!"

"I'm glad to hear it!" Tarquin laughed as well. "Anyway, the reason I've called is that we have an estimated time of arrival now." Everything went silent for a moment as the blip in the globe moved up another couple of inches. "At the rate it's currently going, it'll be here in about two hours."

"Two hours?" Lion demanded. "You couldn't give us more time than that?!"

"I know it's a big surprise to all of you, but it's not exactly like you aren't equipped to deal with the situation. Now, the official orders are as follows: the kids will be deployed first, with Leopardano lending assistance only if necessary."

"What?!" Leopardano jumped to his feet. "What idiot decided that?! I should be the first one out there!! The kids should only go if I fail!!"

"I can understand your desire to protect them..." Tarquin sighed. "But let's face it, they are more powerful than you. If things get really rough, they can level everything in sight with their world destroying beam, though I hope it won't come to that." Leopardano sank back down, shaking his head. "Okay guys, if it shows up inside the city, which it probably will, try to drive it out as soon as possible to minimize casualties. That is your top priority. Only focus on actually killing it once you get outside the giant stairs. Jaguarena, you'll lead. If it becomes necessary to use the world destroyer, since Lion is the "reactor" for it, then he will become leader by default. Any questions?"

"Sir..." Lion frowned, trying to think of how to phrase his question. "Do you really think that we have the power to kill this thing?"

There was a moment's silence. "Well, we don't know now do we? We've never actually had a chance to test these powers out against it. But I know if you guys can't do it, there's sure as Hell no one else who can."

Just then, the projector beeped. The red glow had moved up, yet again. Now though, another energy signature appeared in the status display. "What the Hell does that mean?" Lion demanded.

"Um... It appears that there are two of them." Tarquin nervously responded.

"Two?!" Leopardano put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't freak out on me. You guys can do this. Now let's get ready to go!"

.

The Soultech president downed a shot of whiskey as he gazed out his window. He thought he felt the building sway beneath him, and turned to the masked man beside him, a questioning look on his face. "Yeah, I suppose you can start to feel the vibrations now." Gazuga nodded.

"Well, only seventeen years instead of eighteen. I suppose I should be impressed." He turned back to the window.

"Hey, the kids didn't rampage in the meantime did they? I don't want to hear any complaints in that department. Transporting these suckers through time isn't the easiest thing on the planet."

"Now, these things are basically invincible, right?"

"They should be."

"Then why did you need my assurance of Soultech backup?"

"Just in case our little 'synths turn out to be "invincible" too."

"Hmm... and how much damage are they going to cause the city? I don't want a lot of casualties here." Gazuga didn't answer for a moment.

"It would be in your best interests to evacuate while you still can." He finally said.

"But-" He started to protest, but he heard the door to his office whoosh open. He whirled around to see Tess walking into the room. He tensed, and looked back at Gazuga, only to find that he was nowhere to be seen.

"Father, what's going on? Are the rumors I've been hearing true? Lion and the other 'synths are really going to fight the Armageddon beast?"

"Beasts, actually." He corrected her. Her eyes widened. "At present, it appears that there are two of them quickly burrowing up to the surface. And yes, the 'synths have already been deployed."

"So why isn't Soultech springing into action as well?"

"This isn't Soultech's job." He turned back to the window.

"What are you talking about? The fate of the planet is at stake here! It's everyone's job!!"

"They only reason the 'synths exist is to combat that thing. We will see how they do first. If they fail, and only if they fail, Soultech will be deployed. Not before then."

Tess gave him a very odd glance, wondering just what was going through the old coot's head. 'I have to do something to help... But what? Matt can help! He and his friends may not be 'synths, but they've still got power...' She quickly turned and left the room.

"Ah, my dear daughter." The president smiled. "Soultech will be deployed only if they succeed."

.

Lion stood in the very center of the city, looking at the technical readout his palm computer was giving him. He could feel the ground shaking beneath his feet. "Only a couple thousand feet to go..."

"So, do we have a plan?" Tigered asked casually. Lion didn't know how he could be so calm. He had never thought he'd actually have to use his 'synth powers for what they'd been designed for. Maybe Ty had...

"Well, until we drive them out of the city, we all attack from the same side." Jaguarena told him. "After that, just nuke 'em anyway you can."

"Do you think we'll need to use the world destroyer?" Ty asked.

"I hope not, short stuff." She sighed, looking at the ground. "But it's good to know we can do it, all the same."

"Will you stop with the 'short stuff'?" He complained. "I'm almost as tall as you are now."

"I'll tell you what. If you manage to kill one of these things before I do, then I'll go easy on you from now on."

'I hope we can kill them at all...' Lion started, then kicked himself mentally. 'We're the most powerful beings on this planet! Of course we can kill them!' The shaking of the ground suddenly seemed to increase exponentially.

"Five hundred feet to go!" Jaguarena shouted. "And they're directly below us! Get ready to fly!" They all hunched down, ready to take off at a moment's notice. "Three hundred feet... Two hundred feet...! One hundred feet...!" Suddenly, huge cracks appeared all around them, widening at a truly alarming rate. "Take off!" the ground below them fell into what had just become a gaping pit. Then, two objects filled up the pit, and more of the ground around them erupted as they burst out of the hole. The three prototypes instinctively flew backwards, away from the giants that had just appeared. They were both over 300 feet tall, and both looked very imposing. One looked like a huge dragon. It was a dark orange in color, and sported some claws that had to be forty feet long each. The other was humanoid in form, and sort of a neutral grey color. It had absolutely huge muscles, and a rock-like armor covered much of it. But the face was not human at all. It was otherworldly, with no nose, and angry, glowing, blue eyes.

"This is not good!!" Lion shouted.

"That's not what I need to hear Lion!!" Jaguarena shouted at him. "Get on their left now! We'll keep it simple for the first attack!" The three 'synths blasted through the air, then suddenly came to a halt when they were on the giants' left side. The giants themselves were still glancing back and forth. "Ready guys?!" She asked, then continued without waiting for a response. "Energy blast!!" All three brought both of their hands up, and six huge beams of yellow energy rushed at their enemies, resulting in a gigantic midair explosion. When the yellow glow faded, they could plainly see...

"No effect?!" Lion's jaw dropped.

"Not exactly. They seem pissed off at us now." Tigered observed.

"That was so helpful Ty." Jaguarena groaned, before turning back to their adversaries, who had now turned toward them, and indeed looked very unfriendly. "Do it again! Now!!" Again, six beams of energy rushed forward, again resulting in a huge explosion. Again, there was no visible effect.

"Our energy isn't working!" Ty shouted. "We need to break through their armor first! I say we go for the physical attack!"

"No!" Jaguarena shouted at him. "We just need to concen-" She was cut off as a huge fist came out of the residue of the explosion, and carried her along with it for a ways. When the fist finally stopped, she kept flying, to go smashing through the wall of the building behind them.

Lion and Ty looked at each other for a second. "Physical it is!!" They shouted at the same time. Blazing yellow light surrounded them, and they both flew full speed into the humanoid giant, then began pummeling it with their fists. "No one does that to our sister!!" The giant didn't exactly take this treatment lying down though, and they both had to quickly fly out of the way of its swinging fists. Then, they quickly reversed their vector as a huge blast of fire came from the draconian giant's direction. Lion was caught on the end of one of the humanoid's swinging fists, and before he could even grunt from the impact, found himself crashing through a window of one of the surrounding buildings. He coughed up blood, and could actually feel the internal bleeding. "H-heal!" He choked out. After a moment of struggling to concentrate, his pummeled insides quickly mended themselves. "Well," he wiped the blood off of his mouth. "I can tell this isn't going to be a pretty fight."

Through the broken window, he saw Jaguarena blazing back into the action. She fired a very precise beam of energy at the spot he and Ty had been pummeling just before. Lion couldn't see anything change, but the beast roared loudly, so it obviously hadn't liked it. Lion resumed a fighting stance, and his body was again engulfed by yellow flames. He burst out of the window, aiming at the draconian giant this time. Hopefully, he would be able to keep it from aiding its comrade. He smashed into its shoulder at a breakneck speed, nearly breaking his own neck in the process. "Destroy our planet huh?!" He demanded of the thing. It pulled its head back and roared, very loudly. "I don't think so!!" Lion thought he shouted, but he still couldn't actually hear anything after that roar. He pulled back a bit, and aimed a huge blast of energy at the space where he had impacted. It was very hard to tell, but he thought he saw a few cracks appear in the armor. Then, his world spun as one of the huge claws smashed into his back. He was hurled through the air, to land hard on the now jagged ground.

A fraction of a second later, Ty joined him, also having been bashed a good one. "We're not doing so good!" Lion yelled at him.

"How about actually saying something helpful?!" Ty asked as he stood back up.

"Fine. Let's get back in there and mix it up!" Once again they rocketed forward, leaving blazing trails in the air. Ty was immediately taken out by the rapidly flying form of Jaguarena. Putting on his fiercest expression, Lion flew right up in front of the humanoid giant's face, hopefully, if he wanted to hit Lion, he'd also have to hit himself. "Well, you're pretty slap happy, aren't you?" Lion backed up just a bit, his hands starting to glow brighter than the rest of him. "Let's see how you like my strongest attack! If you're still standing after this..." Lion blasted him at very close range. The gigantic yellow beam that came from his hands was three times as large as all of their previous beams combined. "...I'm screwed." He finished quietly.

Even before the explosion finished dissipating, Lion could see a giant fist rocketing out of it, toward him. However, it seemed to stop in midair, and then quickly draw away from him. Looking down, Lion saw that Ty and Jaguarena had slammed into the thing's midsection, and actually managed to push it back. But they had to retreat as a blast of dragonfire washed over its midsection, apparently doing no damage to the giant. Then, the two 'synths were nailed with a huge, whipping, draconic tail, and hurled into the ground so fast they made craters as they landed. Enraged, Lion threw himself at the dragon, landing blow after blow on its chest, only to be smashed into the ground by one of the claws. "Well, I think we can rule out driving them out of the city." Jaguarena breathed heavily.

"I vote that we go straight for the world destroyer." Lion said. "I'm tired of getting the crap beat out of me."

Jaguarena gasped. "We can't really use that here! We'd blow up the city and everyone in it!"

"Hey, I've had seventeen years to improve this bastard." Lion smiled. "Trust me on this one." Then, they had to quickly scatter out of the way as a huge foot descended on their location.

"Lion, maybe you're- Augh!" Ty was cut off as a huge fist pounded him back into the pavement.

"Come on!" Lion shouted at Jaguarena. "Let's do it while we're all still alive!" Then, he too succumbed to the rapidly swinging fists.

Jaguarena grimaced for a second, then looked down at where he lay. "Lion... Maybe you're right. Let's blast them while we still can."

.

"I know the odds are against me, but if there's a way to win, I'm gonna find it!!" - Son Goku, _Dragon Ball Z_


	33. Lion's Story: Brother of Mine

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 33: ****Lion's Story: Brother of Mine**

By Nanaki

3497 A.D.

Mattheus peered cautiously around the corner of the building he was pressed up against, stealing a glimpse at the center of the city, which had become a raging battlefield. He quickly withdrew his head, fear in his eyes, and turned back to Tess and the group of six guys that had followed them here. "Okay, I'm officially going to wet my pants. Men, wet 'em if you got 'em."

"I already wet my pants sir." One of the "troops" spoke up. "And I wet yours too. Not sure how..."

"If you guys are still able to joke around, then it can't be that bad." Tess said, willing herself to believe it, despite the ferocious roaring and huge explosions that assaulted their ears.

"Seriously Tess, what can we do against those things? If the 'synths aren't damaging them, we don't have a chance."

"They're getting smacked around so much, they don't have a chance to damage them! You could at least go out there and distract them. This isn't just their fight! This involves everyone!" With that, she ran around the corner of the building.

"Damn!" Matt shouted. "Guys, I gotta go now! Follow if you want to!" With that, he charged out onto the battlefield. Looking behind him, he saw that everyone was reluctantly following, albeit with very wide eyes. "Thanks everyone!" He shouted. "Now, we need to distract those things, and only to distract. Use up as little power as possible in your energy bursts!"

.

Lion could have sworn he was about to be smashed again, but suddenly, a group of small energy bursts came from the opposite side of the town center, and the two giants turned away. "This is our chance!!" Lion shouted. "We need to do it now!!"

"You're right." Jaguarena landed next to him. "Ty? Let's go!"

"Coming!" He shouted, and was there in a second.

"All right." Lion smiled. "I know I can concentrate this enough so that it'll only hit them. We need to use our bodies to "aim" it, so crouch down, and lean far forward. I should be able to control its vector a little myself from there." Across the battlefield, Lion could see that whoever had suddenly come up and started firing off energy bursts was already retreating into the maze of buildings. The giants looked back and forth, scanning for them. "All right, let's get a move on!" Ty and Jaguarena closed their eyes, and began to glow brightly. "Good. A nice, fast start..." Suddenly, the two giants turned back toward them, and roared, much louder than they ever had before.

"They can feel it! They know what we're trying to do!!" Ty cried out.

"Keep going!" Lion shouted. Two ragged yellow beams shot out of his chest, and began feeding into the other two. A yellow bubble began to form on the ground between them. The giants roared, and began charging across the battlefield as fast as they could. "Speed it up!!" Lion shouted. A flurry of energy blasts erupted on the giants' backs, but they didn't even seem to notice. "I can feel it!" Lion smiled. "Ten more seconds and we'll have it!" He began to count down as the huge beasts rushed at them. "Nine, eight, seven, six..." The beasts reached their location, and drew up short. "Five..." The draconian beast swung its claws down. The ground all around them was torn up, but amazingly, it did not strike them. "Four...!"

"Lion!!" Ty cried out.

"Just hold on Ty! We're almost there!! Three!" The dragon began drawing its claws up again. "Two...!!" Its claws reached their maximum height, then rushed downward again. Lion grimaced. "One...!!" The claws descended at an angle this time, and Lion didn't see where they went. Then, he heard Ty scream. Looking up, he saw his brother impaled on the dragon's huge claw, his blood spurting everywhere.

"NOOOOOOOO!!" Lion's eyes began to glow with energy, rage overcoming his mind.

"Ty, listen to me!!" Jaguarena hoped he could hear her over the noise both brothers were making. "You can survive this! You can heal yourself!! You just have to concentrate!!" Her heart sank as the dragon's other hand came around, and its huge claws neatly smashed Ty's head and all of his upper body into a bloody pulp. She didn't even notice as the other beast turned and began to walk away. Then, her eyes widened as she felt an energy surge. All the energy Ty had summoned was released from his broken body in the form of a tremendous explosion, and the energy feedback floored her and Lion as well.

.

The Soultech president turned on his comm unit, and as he expected, Tarquin's gravelly voice could be heard. "That did it. Tigered is down for the count. You can call them off now."

"Yes, about that..." He smiled as he got set to deliver the news. "I have no idea how to do that."

"What?! But they're going to kill all three of them, and probably destroy the city after that!!"

"Well, I have something in mind to safeguard our dear city..." He turned and gave a thumbs up to Gazuga, who made no response. "But as for our 'synths, I'm afraid their fates are sealed."

"You son of a-!" The president clicked off his comm unit.

"Don't you ever shut up, old man?"

"I would ask the same of you." Gazuga spoke for the first time in a while.

"All right, there's no need to be grouchy about it." The president held up his hands.

"Although the prototypes can't see it, my Weapons ARE taking some bad hits." Gazuga's one eye narrowed. "I'm a bit concerned."

"What? Those 'synths can't actually win, can they?"

"I said I was a BIT concerned. Don't be insulting." Gazuga told him. The president decided it would be best to follow Gazuga's suggestion, and be quiet.

.

"Hey, isn't there anything else we can-?"

"No!" Matt shouted as he dragged Tess along by the arm. "They're finished. If we want to survive, we need to get out of here now!" Suddenly, there was a loud thud behind them. Whirling around, they saw the more human-looking beast lumbering after them. They got set to run even faster, but the beast stopped before it got to them. Then, its eyes lit up, and blue beams of energy raced into the center of their group, the force of the blast scattering them all around. The giant gestured, and walls of rock quickly rose up from the ground. They all rolled onto the walls, trying to get to the other side, and away from this thing. They all made it... except for Tess.

She heard Matt curse very loudly from the other side of the still growing wall, and tried to keep from panicking. She scanned around for any sign of cover, and settled for a fairly large pile of rocks. As she was charging toward it, another pair of blue beams impacted into the ground in front of her. A gaping trench opened up, and the ground she was on sank down toward it. She couldn't stop herself before she was hurled in. She fell for a surprisingly long way, and then hit the bottom very hard. She lay there stunned, unable to move.

.

Lion stood up, glaring at the huge dragon. While Jaguarena seemed to have succumbed to despair, only rage filled his heart. "**YOU'RE GONNA PAAAAAAAAAY!!**" He roared up at the towering beast, which seemed to be regarding him with curiousity now. Blazing yellow energy surrounded him once more, if anything, even brighter now. "I'll get you for this!! You won't escape my wrath!!" He plowed directly into its chest, and planted his fist into the armor as hard as he could. As the impact threw him back a bit, he observed that cracks were radiating out from where his fist had hit. The beast roared with fury. "So, you're not invincible after all!" he declared. He unleashed the energy for his best attack again, but this time, concentrated it into a much narrower beam. He was satisfied to see the blast eat away at the armor, and the explosion pushed the beast back. However, he realized that it would take hours, if not days of this, to actually kill the things. He retreated back to the ground. "Jaguarena, cover me!"

"But...!" She tried to protest, but only succeeded in crying some more.

"Do it! Now!! We can still win!!" She quickly wiped her eyes, and launched herself into the air. Lion focused carefully, and actually began gathering energy, which was a fairly new experience for him. 'Now, if only the other one will wander back over here...' As he was gathering energy, he saw that Jaguarena didn't disappoint. She launched into an incredible series of attacks that far outdid anything she had done before. The dragon roared in distress, and as he had hoped, the humanoid beast lumbered over to aid its comrade. Lion turned his head to the sky. 'Sun, you've never failed me before. Grant me the extra power I need, now. Help my cells put out that extra boost...' He waited a few seconds, and then, he felt it. Even with all the energy he had used up, there was now more power in him than ever before in his life. He doubted that the sun had actually had anything to do with it, but somehow, his cells had increased their energy output. Maybe his lazy, animal based mitochondria were actually pitching in too. He didn't care. What mattered was, he had the power.

"Jaguarena, get out of there now!!" He roared. Apparently, she had had enough of the fight, because she rocketed skyward before he even finished his order. The two giants ignored her, and he smiled as they realized what was going on within him. "That's right, you bastards. This is for my brother! World Destroyer!!" He held his right arm forward, and a power equal to what all three had done before roared out of his arm. This time though, the beam was much more concentrated. The very air vibrated as the beam raced forward. It impacted into the dragon, toasting him, and bounced off and hit the humanoid too. Lion finally let the energy flow stop, and a huge explosion filled the entire city center. When his eyes readjusted after the blast, he saw the two beasts were lying on the ground, growling angrily, but also moaning in pain. 'It didn't kill them...' He realized. 'I've gotta keep trying... but I don't have that much power left...' Suddenly, the ground shook again, and he heard the huge rumble of buildings crashing to the ground behind him. He whirled around, and saw another humanoid giant behind and to the right of him. This one was even bigger than the others, and had sharp edges to its armor that made it even more imposing. It roared ferally, its deep voice shaking the very earth, and started to advance on the other two.

.

Tess finally stood up, despite the constant rain of dirt pouring down on her. She struggled to see out of the top of the crevasse she was in, and when she succeeded, she wished she hadn't. A giant foot was descending on the trench, and would surely bury her, if it didn't squash her outright. She tried again not to panic, but failed this time. There was absolutely nothing she could do. There was no way she could climb out in time. 'I never thought it would end like this...' She thought, tears welling up in her eyes.

Then, a split second before the foot completed its descent, something scooped her up out of the pit, and carried her high into the air. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was above even the tallest buildings in Lohkiarn, and the only thing that was keeping her from plummeting to her death was, "Lion!!"

"Of course." He smiled down at her. "What, you thought I was so wrapped up in my own fight that I didn't see what happened to you? No, I couldn't let TWO of the people most important to me die in one day."

She scanned him quickly, and fear returned to her heart at what she saw. Horrible bruises covered his entire body, and he was bleeding from a great many cuts, probably a result of his many forced trips into the rocks. "You look terrible." She told him.

He scanned her bruised, dirt covered self, and responded, "So do y... No, I'd be lying if I said that. You're disheveled, but beautiful as always." Lion found a suitable rooftop, and slowly lowered them onto it. He gently set Tess down, and turned back to watch the action. Then, a broad smile lit up his face as he saw the new giant pick up the dragon, and hurl it into the ground, roaring fiercely all the while. "Well, looks like that new Armageddon beast... isn't."

"I don't think these are the things that caused Armageddon." Tess walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"No? Their energy signature seems the same... What are they then?"

"I think... they might be Weapons." The largest Weapon roared again, and picked up the smaller humanoid one. He raised it above his head, and then brought its back down on his knee, before letting it fall to the ground.

"But, aren't Weapons supposed to protect the planet?" Lion scratched his head.

"I wish we could see the energy signature of that new guy." Tess said. "Because I bet it would be a lot different than the other two. You'll notice that he's beating the crap out of them..."

"Yeah, but..." Lion thought for a minute. "Maybe the Armageddon beast is somehow controlling the other two. Yeah, that makes sense! That's why they carry his energy, and that's why the lead Weapon has shown up to knock some sense into them!" Lion sank to one knee, breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" Tess asked, concerned.

"Better than okay." Lion smiled. "Every second I'm in the sunlight, I recover more energy, and my strength returns more and more. That's how we were able to keep getting up after they hit us so hard. That's why we didn't run out of power."

"You mean, you're not done yet?"

"No way!" Lion stood up now, smiling. "I'm gonna go help the lead Weapon fight! Wish me luck!"

Tess slowly leaned up, and kissed him on the cheeck. "Good luck." Lion looked at her with an expression that would have been disbelief, if he hadn't been smiling so much. Then, a brilliant yellow glow surrounded him once more, and he blasted off, heading back toward the Weapons. On his way, he saw Jaguarena flying up on a vector that paralleled his. They nodded at each other, and as they neared the lead Weapon, each landed on one of his shoulders. The Weapon seemed oblivious, and continued to pummel his downed subordinates, which weren't overly happy with the treatment they were getting. Lion and Jaguarena both stretched their hands up, and proceeded to blast the two Weapons in anything that looked like a vulnerable spot. They held on to some of the spikes jutting from his shoulders as the large Weapon hefted up the smaller humanoid one, and brought its back down on his knee once again. This time, there was a cracking sound, and most of its armor broke and fell off. The smaller Weapon had evidently had enough, as it began to tunnel its way back into the ground.

The lead Weapon wasn't having any of that, and he yanked it back out, and punched it in the face very hard. He pulled his hand back to do it again, with Lion and Jaguarena acting as shoulder mounted solar cannons all the while, but an unexpected energy burst blasted at the hand that was holding the smaller Weapon up, and he was forced to let go. The Weapon and 'synths looked down at the ground, where the new burst had come from, and saw a mysterious man standing there. He was disguised with both mask and cloak. "Sorry, but you won't be damaging my Weapons any more today." He made a slight gesture, and they both sank into the ground. "You kids are better than I expected though, I'll give you that. Just remember that it was the Crystal Weapon here who saved your ass. Without him, you'd all be dead now." Then, he began sinking into the ground himself. "We'll meet again, Lionello! You can be sure of that!" With that, the ground swallowed him completely.

Lion was about to say something, but the Crystal Weapon roared in fury, and dived down to the ground. Lion and Jaguarena were forced to leave his shoulders as he tunneled furiously after the departed Weapons, vanishing from sight in just a few seconds. "We... We did it." Jaguarena breathed heavily.

"With some help from an unexpected source." Lion smiled for a second, but it quickly disappeared. "And... Ty. I shouldn't have tried to force it out right then."

"You can't blame yourself for that." She put a hand on his shoulder. "If not then, when? We were being beaten so badly, I don't think we could have tried again later. That was the right time. We just weren't fast enough. None of us."

Lion stood up straight, and looked at the sky. "Brother, I swear, we'll find the Armageddon beast that was controlling those Weapons, and we'll kill it, for you." Then, he looked around at the city, which thankfully hadn't suffered that much damage, save where the Crystal Weapon had appeared. "For you, and for everyone on the planet!!"

.

"You took from him what no one has the right to take! Now you will know the horror!!" - Son Goku, _Dragon Ball Z_

(Nanaki's note: You've just finished reading the results of what was probably the most productive life of my night, writing-wise. On Martin Luther King Day in 2000, I wrote Chapters 30-33 in one eight hour session, not even getting up to go to the bathroom, as far as I remember. To this day, I've never had another writing session like that. Hell, nowadays I'm lucky if I can write four chapters in eight weeks, never mind eight hours. Yet, after that incredible session, I would go on to write a grand total of two chapters in the next year and a half. I didn't really get back to work on the story until the fall of 2001, mainly because of real life. When things aren't looking too good for me, and conversely, when things are going REALLY well, I just don't feel like writing. But fear not! We've still got more than twenty chapters to go at this point.)


	34. Stars Above

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 34:** **Stars Above**

By Nanaki

3500 A.D.

"Right after that, I... huagh..." Lion paused to yawn.

"I second that." Tempo yawned as well. "This is amazing, but I've been up for about twenty straight hours, if not more."

"Yeah, I think it would be best if I finished in the morning." Lion rubbed his eyes. "I don't think we should leave this room, so try to get comfortable around here somewhere."

"I think I'll sit outside for a little while." Schala said, standing up.

"Outside?" Tempo asked.

"Me too." Silva nodded. Tempo observed where they were heading, and saw a small balcony protruding from the building.

"Lionel?" Tess tugged on his sleeve.

"What is it hon?" He kissed the top of her head. She sighed and leaned into him.

"Nothing that can't wait until the morning, I guess."

"Good." He smiled down at her. "It's getting kind of cold up here. So, do you want to sleep back to back or...?"

"Front to front?" She suggested.

"My pleasure." Then he glanced at the guards, and over at the balcony. "But tonight, looks like we'll have to keep the clothes on."

"Yes, but just tonight." She said, wrapping her arms around him.

"Aw, I don't mind." Lion smiled as he lay down, taking her with him. "We've got many nights ahead. Thank God, we've got many nights ahead..." He closed his eyes, and sighed happily as he began to feel the warmth of her body through his clothes.

Tempo got up, and walked over to the balcony. It expanded to the sides a bit past its entrance, and the ladies were seated on opposite sides of it, their backs against the glass. Tempo paused at the opening, unsure of who to talk to, if anyone. He finally turned to the left, and sat down next to Silva. "So what're you thinking about right now?"

She sighed. "I'm wondering what my place in all of this is. Why Garin sent me through time with the rest of you."

"How so?" Tempo scratched his head, and fought to stay alert, despite how tired he was.

"Well, you and Lion both have incredible powers. And Schala... Besides the fact that she seems to know more about what's going on than any of us, she's got some nice magic too. But what do I have? I have your 'G-35A grenade launcher...'" She laughed a little, "and that's it. I mean, I'm still trying to get used to the idea of actually being in a different time, much less fighting otherworldly bad guys..."

"Well, I really don't know." Tempo looked thoughtful. "But I do know, that Garin had a reason for sending you here. Sometime, that reason is going to become apparent, and I think we'll all be glad you're here when it does."

"I hope so." She remained silent, taking in the view of the city at night, which was quite spectacular. Tempo smiled as he saw the glowing lights reflected in her eyes. "I can only try to imagine how Lion must have felt... The responsibility for guarding this huge city all placed on his shoulders." She slowly stood up. "Well, I'm going to try to find a place to sleep. See you in the morning."

"Yeah." Tempo waved good night, and stared at the city for a bit, himself. In the darkness, it was impossible to tell just how high up they were, and he was glad for that. But he noticed that he seemed to be having more trouble breathing than when he was on the ground, so it must have been a mile, at least. After a few minutes of blank staring, he turned to Schala. He was surprised to see that she wasn't staring at the city, but rather, turned around and looking at her reflection in the glass. "Something the matter?" He asked quietly.

"I'm just so tired." She said, not looking away. "Tired of not feeling anything. Tired of waiting for a time when I'll be alive again. When I can have my power back, and can feel it surging through my body, like Lion was describing. When I won't be so cold..."

"You can actually feel the cold?"

Now, she finally turned to look at him. "Not exactly. My body registers everything as the same generic sensation. I just know it's there, and that's all. But since I know what causes the sensation, I can remember what it used to feel like..."

Tempo turned away, and stared out at the city some more. "Too bad it doesn't work that way for emotions."

Schala smiled a little at that. "Yeah, that would be nice. I'd remember what it felt like to care, but wouldn't actually care. Then, maybe I wouldn't be missing so many people."

"There's more than just your... your 'significant other'?"

Schala sighed. "My mother, my father, my brothers... And I think Lavos destroyed my whole kingdom. I don't know if anyone survived..." 'Ertai's probably dead too...'

'"Your" whole kingdom?' Tempo wondered, but didn't say anything. "Wow." His eyes widened. "And here I am all down in the dumps about just two people."

"Two's enough." Schala sighed. "Two is more than enough. Two is two too many. At least I know one of my brothers is still alive, somewhere..." 'I know I was mad at you when I left, Janus, but I'm very, very glad that you're alive...' Then, she looked up past the city lights, at the stars. 'I wish you were here right now...'

"Well, that's good, at least." Tempo continued. "You know, this is pretty much the first real chance I've had to just sit and talk to you, but... I can't really think of anything to say."

He was startled as Schala turned back to him, the expression on her face more dire than any he had seen before. "Tempo, I have to ask... Does the name 'Greven Vecar' mean anything to you?"

Tempo leaned back, considering. "Well... I can't place the face, but it does sound familiar." Schala smiled at that. "Was he one of the Soul Knights in 975?" Her smile vanished as she shook her head. "Ah well, why do you ask?"

"For a second, I thought I saw him when we were fighting Moogoo..."

"What? There was no one else up there!"

"I know." She said softly, smiling to herself.

Tempo yawned, and rubbed his eyes. "Argh... I'm too tired for this right now. We'll talk more after Lion's finished with his yakkin'. See you in the morning." With that, he got up and went inside.

'Greven...' Schala thought at she looked out at the city. Ever since he had died, she had tried not to think about him too much. She could have saved him if she had just gotten there a few minutes sooner. Of course, she couldn't even save herself, but if they had fought together... 'What if, what if, what if...' She criticized herself. 'What ifs aren't going to bring him back. Nothing is going to bring him back.' She slowly lowered herself to a lying position on the balcony. As she felt the cold, hard pavement beneath her, she imagined the soft warmth of Greven's body against hers, the love in his gaze... 'Greven, Greven, Greven...' For perhaps the first time since he had died, Schala freely admitted to herself how much she missed him, and slowly cried herself to sleep.

.

1855 A.D.

Magus sat up in bed, frowning. He'd been having a very restless sleep, and he didn't think he'd be getting much more rest in the near future. He got up, and not bothering to put on a shirt, went to find Leng. As usual, the other magus was in the room full of monitors. Right now, they were turned off, and he was intently examining some papers. "Something wrong?" He asked without looking up.

"I feel like I'm wasting my time, just sitting around here." Magus made a fist with his right hand, and slammed it into the palm of his left. "I should be out there doing something!" Leng remained silent. Magus wandered over to the machine in the wall which was still busily scanning away. "And why are we bothering to search every single year with this thing? The only times Schala would have a reason to be in are ones with humans in them!"

"On the contrary, she could be stuck several billion years in the past. If she is, since there don't seem to be any gates before sentient beings evolved, she'd be completely trapped there."

Magus glared at the machine anyway. "When ARE we going to do something?" He demanded.

"Well, either when Seraphina returns from her mission, or when the Lavoid tracks us down and destroys us." Leng answered calmly. "I much prefer the first scenario, myself."

"How is whatever she's doing going to help in the fight?"

"If she is successful, she will have located the most powerful human on this planet. The one who has the power to destroy the Lavoid single handedly, if need be."

"If he's so powerful, wouldn't the Lavoid seek him out when he's a baby, and destroy him then?"

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Leng smiled. "Just trust me on this one."

"Secretive old fool." Magus scowled as he walked out the front gates of the fortress. He stopped, and looked up at the stars. 'I just want to be out there helping Schala. I don't give a damn about all this intrigue.' He sighed, and then looked even farther up. 'I don't know whether I should stick around here or not. I hate to admit it, but a little divine intervention telling me what to do could come in real handy...' There was no response. 'Vigo, how about you? I know I'm not actually related to you in any way, but we've got common interests. Namely, protecting Schala. I'm so frustrated here, not knowing what to do, or how long anything will take. Well... Just keep watch over her until I can find her...' Magus turned around, and walked back inside. 'I'm thinking at a dead man. All this waiting around is getting to me more than I thought...'

* * *

Vigo: Keep watch over her? When do I not? Have a little faith, Janus.

.

"I'm never gonna have another dream again. They hurt too much when they die." - Rick Hunter, _Robotech (Novels)_

(Nanaki's note: If you're wondering who Schala's other brother is, than I HIGHLY recommend reading Mox Jet's excellent story "The Planeswalkers". Heck, I highly recommend reading all of his stories, but Planeswalkers is the one that started it all. I'm not sure if Mox is on this site or not, because none of FFN's Search functions seem to be working right now. If not, you can always go to Icy's. The only reason that Jack/Lathain wasn't in Mount Woe is that it was written a couple years before Planeswalkers got started. Rest assured, he'll be in Mount Woe Special Edition. (To be released September 13th, 2012, a.k.a. Mount Woe's 15th anniversary.) Will he show up in this story? Well, I'm not saying yes, and I'm not saying no, but I'm especially not saying no.)


	35. Lion's Story: The Fugitive

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 35:** **Lion's Story: The Fugitive**

By Nanaki

3500 A.D.

"So," Tempo prompted, "you'd just finished fighting two 300 foot tall monsters..."

"Indeed." Lion nodded. "I'm actually pretty sure that they were Weapons of the planet, but the alien somehow managed to gain control of them."

"How would it do that?" Tempo asked. Schala frowned, not saying anything.

"How should I know?" Lion shrugged. "Do you want to hear the rest of this or not?"

"All right, all right!" Tempo held up his hands. "Get on with it then."

Lion crossed his arms, and began. "I thought my problems were over once we defeated those monsters. In truth, the real fight was just beginning..."

* * *

3497 A.D.

Lion sighed heavily, digging a chunk of rock out of where it was imbedded in his hand. Green liquid from broken chloroplasts covered it, and he frowned before flicking it away. He looked up slowly as he heard footsteps moving toward their location, faint voices following along with them. "...should be over here..."

"What do you suppose is going on?" He asked Jaguarena.

"Who knows? I would assume that they'd send medical personnel to check us out." They both turned as a squad of troops rounded a corner and came into the city center. Lion could immediately tell that these were NOT medics. This was a rather large group of Soultech troops. As they got closer, he could see Matt walking among them, talking nervously. He finally turned to look at Lion, and hurried over.

"Where's Tess?" He asked, fear clouding his eyes.

"She's fine." Lion answered his unspoken question. "I took her to the top of that building." He pointed up at the structure he was speaking of.

Now the rest of the large Soultech squad had arrived, and was glaring at him in a none too friendly manner. "Jaguarena and Lionello?" The lead trooper asked.

"Well, yeah. Who else would we be?" Lion asked, not exactly feeling in the mood to put up with bureaucracy.

"You two are under arrest for failing to comply with orders."

Jaguarena's shoulders visibly slumped, but that was all the reaction she had. Lion was a different story. "Orders? What orders?! We're not in any military organization, in case you've forgotten!"

The man clearly ignored that comment. "You were ordered to drive the monsters out of the city, which you clearly did not do."

"So what?! You don't own us! I only fought because I wanted to protect this city, not because any fat assed bureaucrat ordered me to!"

"The fact remains-"

"The fact remains that I'm gonna kick your skinny little Soultech ass if you don't shut the Hell up!! I didn't see you out here fighting! My brother died to defeat those things, and now you have the nerve to tell us we didn't do a good enough job?! Fuck you, you-" Lion whirled around as Jaguarena put a hand on his shoulder.

"Lion, stop. Let's just go with them for now. Do you really think any judge is going to convict us of any wrongdoing? The government is just blowing off steam here because the 'synths weren't as powerful as they wanted us to be."

"What they wanted? What about what I want?!"

"Let's just go. I don't want to fight any more." Lion frowned up at her, and saw absolute exhaustion in her eyes.

"All right. For you, I'll go."

"A wise decision." The Soultech leader nodded. He produced two pairs of hand restraints. A feral growl began to escape Lion's throat, but Jaguarena just put her hand on his shoulder again, and he relaxed, allowing the restraints to be placed on. "We've been ordered to take you in one at a time."

"Why is that?" Lion spat.

"I'm not at liberty to say." The man responded, then began leading Jaguarena away. Lion and Matt quietly watched her go, not speaking.

"I'm sorry about this." Matt finally said. Lion just glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow. "I saw how hard you were fighting. I can appreciate what you were doing, even if I couldn't do much myself."

"At least you actually did do something, unlike the rest of these dickweeds." Lion glared at the ground. Finally, the squad leading Jaguarena disappeared behind the buildings. Suddenly, there was a blinding yellow explosion, and when the Soultech troops could see again, Lion was glowing with yellow fire, his restraints completely vaporised. "You think you can hold me?!" Lion roared at the top of his lungs. "I may be tired, but I've still got more than enough power left to deal with the likes of you!!"

One of the Soultech troops was speaking rapidly into a communicator, then sighed reluctantly. "Everyone, subdue him now!" He barked sharply. The troops gave each other nervous glances, but then began to advance on Lion.

"You want a piece of me?! Well come and get it!!" Lion charged at the trooper nearest to him, burying a fist in his gut that sent the man flying. He whirled around, delivering a roundhouse kick to the head of another trooper who had been trying to sneak up behind him. He hit the dirt hard, dazed, if not completely knocked out. Having finally figured out that attacking him one on one wasn't going to work, all the rest of the troops, with the exception of Matt, rushed him at once. Lion crouched down, and a yellow explosion radiated out around him, throwing them all back. Lion rushed forward, lifted one of them into the air by the collar, then slammed him back down into the ground, head first. Another knockout.

Even as he felt a booted foot kick into his back, a small explosion blew the offending foot off of its parent appendage. Even as the Soultech troop screamed, Lion whirled around and sent him flying back into a building with a quick blast from his hand. Another one out of commission, if not dead. Lion smiled. This was going to be over pretty quick. Then, his yellow diminished as he was surrounded by the green glow of Soultech. "You guys are willing to waste your lives on me? I'm flattered." Then, he launched himself at a man to his left. "But I'm hardly impressed!" As he was flying through the air, a red beam of energy raced at him. It was quickly countered and overwhelmed by a yellow blast from Lion. The man who had launched it was engulfed in the explosion, then sent flying by a knee to the ribs from Lion.

Then, Lion was quickly sent on a similar trajectory as energy attacks from the rest of the Soultech troops impacted on his back. Since he still blazed with yellow fire, he hadn't suffered any real damage, but the energy bolts had hurt a lot more than he had expected. This only served to make him angrier. He ran back toward his enemies on foot, deflecting any further blasts launched his way. When he was almost to his target, the ground erupted underneath him, a trooper emerging from it. Before Lion could do anything, the soldier grabbed his leg, and slammed him into the ground, face first. He was about to expend the extra concentration needed to launch an energy blast from his feet, when he went rigid as an electric current ran through his body. "You'll pay for this!!" He ranted, but felt his power dwindling as he was unable to concentrate at all.

Everyone else noticed as well, and a barrage of Soultech attacks was launched at Lion's prone form. They weren't large scale though. They took the form of needles, or electricity. Rather than trying to beat him into submission outright, they were now trying to incapacitate him with pain. Lion roared as the electricity forced his muscles to spasm, quickly draining him of strength. In one of the few moments of clarity he managed to grasp between blasts, he realized that the electricity would begin to adversely affect his heart and brain if he didn't stop it fast. He had to ignore the pain, he told himself as it intensified.

However, the troopers had guessed that Lion would try to tough it out. They quickly changed their attacks, never letting the same sensations of pain flow through him for very long. As he yelled even louder, Lion wondered how he was going to pull this off. Then, he stopped wondering, and simply did it. Later, he would wonder if some instinct had saved him, or if sufficient force of will had actually kicked in. Either way, his blazing yellow fire came roaring back, deflecting all further attacks, and he was back on his feet. He aimed his palms at the ground, and two large explosions detonated to either side of him. The remaining troopers had backed off as soon as they saw his energy returning though, and they were mostly unharmed. They closed in around him again now.

Matt had seen just about enough of this. He stepped slightly inside the circle. "Please, stop! This fighting is pointless! There's no reason for this battle to continue, aside from pride and revenge." Hoping to lead by doing, Matt completely dissipated all of his defensive wards. "Last time I checked, those weren't good reasons."

There were a few calls of "Shut up cadet," but a lot of the others also lowered their energy shields, albeit not completely. Lion, however, did not catch this exchange. His ears were ringing, and he wondered if his ear drums were damaged, or if he had simply come close to being knocked out. He glanced from target to target quickly, waiting for someone, anyone, to make a move. Someone became nervous as Lion's gaze neared his own. A hand was raised, an explosion went off right in Lion's face, and fates were sealed.

"YOU'LL ALL DIE!!" Lion roared at the top of his lungs as he rocketed forward. No more simple knockouts, no more diversionary tactics, no more mercy. He was going to exterminate them all for what they'd done to him. As he flew through the air, he noticed that one of the troops was standing slightly inside their circle, relative to the rest, and decided that he would be the first victim. More energy blasts were launched at him as he was flying, only to harmlessly bounce off. Lion poured all the power he could muster into his shot. He unleashed the ferocious ball of energy at point blank range, close enough to so that he could also deliver a punch to the chest with the same hand that had released the energy. Something snapped as he did so. The yellow fire around him instantly vanished, and his flight abruptly ended, tossing him to the ground.

Lion didn't have time to absorb these facts though. As he landed, he dimly began to comprehend just who he had hit. "Matt?" The young man had been thrown over 20 feet, straight into the wall of a building. There was a gaping hole in his chest, revealing vital organs, and blood was running out of his ears. Since his lungs were plainly visible, it was easy to see that he wasn't breathing. "Matt!" Lion rushed up to him. "No, this isn't happening man! I have to win Tess' hand fair and square, not by default!" Lion was about to panic, but instead, he forced himself to be calm, and began to summon up his power. He had only ever healed himself, but he was going to try to use his power on Matt now.

The power didn't come. Lion tried to force what had always come naturally, and still nothing happened, except for the sudden onrush of a monumental headache. The other Soultech soldiers were beginning to close in around him, looking none too friendly. They had initially not attacked him because they saw that he was trying to help Matt. But now, it was obvious that he couldn't, and it was also obvious that he couldn't because he was out of power. Lion glanced around nervously. 'Can't heal. Can't fly. Don't want to fight any more. There's only one thing left to do.' Lion stood up, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Tears of anger formed in his eyes as he ran. Mostly anger at himself, but there was still more than enough to spare for the screwed up world he lived in. He was so busy running off the adrenaline rush, that he never stopped to wonder why no one was chasing him.

.

"There's no bright future for soldiers scurrying for their reward." - Zechs Merquise, _Gundam Wing_


	36. Ertai's Training: Fighting the Gauntlet

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 36:** **Ertai's Training: Fighting the Gauntlet**

By Nanaki

1825 A.D.

Ertai glared at the back of Billy's head as he sat, eating a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. Billy was seated at his desk across the room, and thanks to him, Ertai's body was one giant bruise, with plenty of scars thrown in for good measure. 'I hate you.' He thought at the silver hair that covered Billy's head. 'I hate you I hate you I hate you.' Ertai was hard pressed to resist the urge to flick a spoonful of oatmeal at that unsuspecting head.

"I'm sure you do." Billy said, voice devoid of emotion. "Instead of just telling you what to do and letting you refuse to do it, I **make** you do what you're supposed to."

Ertai paused to scoop up another bite with his spoon, then paused to consider that. He had always been under the opinion that no one could truly **make** someone do anything. Oh sure, you could provide a lot of incentive to go one way or the other, but there were always options. That is, unless mind control was involved, as had apparently been the case with Lavos, Zeal, and Dalton. But with Billy, there was only **one** option if you didn't want to do things his way. And that option was to die.

He supposed that he might try running away too, but for him, that was no option at all. He had to pay Billy back, and he didn't want to return to Magus having failed. From what little of his life Magus had told Ertai, he guessed that the mage had been through **much** worse than this.

Ertai came out of his momentary trance to find his hands poised to fling the now lukewarm oatmeal at Billy. His master still wasn't facing him, but... 'I don't think you want to do that.' Billy's slightly amused voice entered Ertai's head.

'Think again.' Ertai smiled as he let the glop of oatmeal fly. Just before it connected with Billy's head, the teacher was surrounded by a blazing wall of fire, and the tasteless mush instantly vaporised. Before Ertai had time to blink, Billy had backflipped out of his chair, and his booted foot connected with Ertai's jaw. Ertai went flying backward, but he used the momentum to get his hands on the floor, bringing his feet up in a wide arc. Billy had expected him to just hit the floor and stay there for a moment, so the kicking uppercut caught him by surprise. He went flying upward, his head smashing through the ceiling.

Ertai sprang back upright off his hands, grabbed Billy's ankles, and yanked him back out of the ceiling. He then slammed his master's head into the floor with what would surely have been a fatal blow, if not for the tremendous amount of chi Billy was circulating through his bones and muscles, anticipating just such an occurance. Still, it disoriented him for a moment, and Ertai used that moment to hurl his teacher through the wall, into the arena.

Ertai raced through the hole scarcely a second later, then realized what a stupid move that had been, as his view was obscured by dust. He glanced about quickly, but didn't see Billy anywhere. Then, he felt a tremendous blow land on his back, and realized his master must have been hovering above him. The blows continued to slam into his back, driving him into the floor. Ertai belatedly got his own chi flowing, but he could feel that several vertebrae had snapped. He cast Cure 2 on himself, and found the strength to push himself out of the crater that had formed around him, even before the healing light faded.

He saw the business end of a roundhouse kick pass a few millimeters under his nose, just a split second after he sprang into the air. He knew Billy would be following him into the air in another split second, so he prepared a surprise. Ertai put his right arm forward, the palm of his right hand perpendicular to the arm. By the time Ertai started to shout, Billy knew he was flying forward too fast to get away in time. "Small Star Attack!" Ertai practically frothed at the mouth, and the mega-condensed ball of chi rocketed into Billy's chest.

Ertai was thrown backward by the force of the blast that engulfed his master. He slowly drifted down to the ground as the explosion dissipated. He was momentarily struck dumb with amazement. He had never had anything close to resembling the upper hand before. He wasn't sure what attack would be best now. 'Well don't just stand there!' The logical part of his brain screamed to the dumb kid that was standing there, mouth agape. 'Do something! Anything is better than-'

His thought was cut off as a flying fist rushed out of the smoke, smashing into his face. He went flying backward, racing toward the thick stone wall behind him, head first. However, just before he hit the wall, he teleported. Billy had barely begun to turn when Ertai slammed into his back, hurling them both to the floor. Even as he grimaced in pain, Billy smiled. The boy's teleportations were getting more precise all the time. He couldn't have phased in more than a few feet behind his master. Billy kicked backwards from the ground, and Ertai went flying up toward the ceiling. His back smacked into it, and he fell back down. Billy sprang to his feet, and timed a roundhouse kick to connect with Ertai's jaw.

Except... he once again found his foot passing a few inches below the boy's face. Even before he could glance up to see what had happened, he felt the chi backwash flow over him, and knew what Ertai had done. His student had used his chi to stop his descent. That was actually **more** difficult than hovering. Billy was surprised again. He aimed a slightly higher kick, but Ertai cut off his chi flow, and dropped to the ground. He rushed at his master, fists flying. The two mixed it up toe to toe, each trying to use their chi to increase their reaction time faster than the other. First, they were landing several blows a second, then, dozens. Finally, Billy sacrificed a bit of his chi defense for greater speed. He feinted high, then landed a gut punch as Ertai moved his arms to block high.

Ertai doubled over, but as Billy moved in for a throw, Ertai slammed his head up into Billy's jaw. Even with all the chi flowing through his body, and toughening it, Billy felt some teeth loosen, and there was a ringing in his ears. Ertai grinned, then landed a shot to the throat that just **had** to hurt, chi or no. Billy staggered back, and Ertai used the increasing distance to bring his hands together. He kept his two outward fingers curled in, but his index and middle fingers pointed as his master. "Raijingeki!!" Eight lightning bolts flowed from his hands, then combined into one wavy blue electrical beam. Billy got his own hands forward to block just in time.

"Kamikazehameha!" What seemed to be a miniaturized tornado funnel rushed at Ertai, bits of holy energy swirling along with it. Ertai stretched all his fingers out now, and the lightning bolts split apart again, entangling the wind before it could reach him. He began to grin, until he sensed a presence behind him. But that couldn't be possible! Billy's chi attack was still coming from... where he **had** been, a moment ago, Ertai cursed as Billy's hand clamped over his mouth, preventing any verbal incantations. Then, Ertai felt his head being twisted around. He he no choice but to twist around with it, or face a broken neck. As he whirled, Billy's diversionary attack proved to be not so diversionary after all, as the pain his back registered was almost blinding.

However, through all the violence, Ertai had maintained the Raijingeki, and now the lightning flowed into Billy with no resistance. When the inevitable punch connected with Ertai's jaw, his master's arm was trembling so much, it didn't have near the force he'd intended. Finally, Billy grabbed Ertai by the shoulders, so the electricity flowed into him as well.

Then, Billy finally began to get a bit worried. Nothing at all was happening to Ertai, except that a creepy grin was beginning to appear on his face. Billy broke through the pain and forced his eyes to glaze over. Once he finally got a good look at the magical waves around him, he realized... "No!!" He shouted, and hurled himself away from Ertai, trying to put as much distance between them as possible.

"Oh yes!" Ertai shouted, then held his hands, still spurting lightning, up to the sky. "Ultima!!" He then finally cut off the Raijingeki and held his hands over his ears. Even if the spell didn't directly hurt him, it was still deafening. The opposite wall of the arena blew outward, and part of the ceiling vanished into the huge blue explosion as well. Ertai started to sag, relieved, until he sensed someone behind him again. "How-?!" He began to demand, whirling around, until a booted foot landed in his stomach, hurling him into the air. Then, two fists came down at the base of his spine, slamming him into the floor, then on through it, while large cracks radiated out from the point of impact.

"I'm good." Billy said by way of explanation. Ertai kicked up from his crater, striking Billy in the groin. He jumped up as quick as he could, into an offensive fighting stance. Which turned out to not be the best idea ever, as Billy landed a punch square in his stomach. However, Billy had assumed this would end it, and left himself pretty open. Ertai opened his mouth as if to suck in some air, then immediately planted his own fist in Billy's stomach. Billy grunted, then slammed his left hand into Ertai's side. Having no way to defend now, Ertai was left to put his own left hand anywhere he wanted. He punched Billy's sternum with all his might, and immediately began to channel a fireball down both arms. Billy did the same.

The two locked eyes for a second, then Ertai ducked down, nailing Billy in the legs with a sweeping kick. He immediately jumped up into the air, above any possible retaliatory kicks, and let his fireballs fly. He could plainly see them connect, and he felt Billy's own fireballs pass just over his head as he descended, singing the tips of his hair. He stood, looking smug, until he noticed the shadows on the walls quickly changing size and shape. He turned around just in time to see Billy's fireballs impact on his chest, then explode around him.

He hadn't had any defense up for that, and he collapsed, finally allowing himself to breathe heavily. About ten feet away, he heard Billy similarly gasping. Finally, his master groaned and stood up. "Well, kid. For the first time, I need a break. Take five." With that, he walked out of the arena.

Ertai just stared at what was left of the ceiling. 'I used every trick in the book, and barely broke even...' Then, he wearily got to his feet as well. 'Looks like I'd better get some new books...'

.

"We'll see how much power you have!!" - K.A.I.N., _Tenchi Muyo in Love_

(Nanaki's note: This chapter was written more than a year after I finished Chapter 35, but fortunately marked the beginning of a new period of great productivity. I would write five more chapters in the fall of 2001, and another ten in the winter of 2002, before the Silver Age of my writing finally came to an end.)


	37. Lion's Story: West Side Story

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 37:** **Lion's Story: West Side Story**

By Nanaki

3497 A.D.

Habeeb held up a hand as Lion rounded the side of the building they had fought in front of. Some of the troops looked like they still wanted to chase after him anyway, so Habeeb held up his other hand. "General, what are you doing here?" One of them quickly asked. "I thought you were in a meeting at headquarters."

"Sorry for the surprise." He bowed his head as he looked at Mattheus. "Sorry for the surprise**s**, I should say. I honestly didn't think anyone would die in that scuffle."

"Well someone **DID**!" Another trooper shouted, not caring much about rank at the moment. "Why did you stop us from going after the murderer?"

"Because you probably would have murdered **him**." Habeeb snapped back. "Not only is it important that he be allowed to escape, but it is vitally important to the future of this world that he live." Habeeb sighed again. "If you think I don't regret Matt's death, then you're very wrong, but Lionello is worth more than all of us put together. He's part of something bigger than every human on this planet, even though that's exactly what he needs to save..."

"Sir..." One of the more relatively calm troops finally broke in. "What the **Hell** are you talking about?"

"You saw how tough those three Weapons were, right?" There was a general nodding of heads. "Well they were just pawns being controlled by a much higher power. That power isn't too friendly toward humans, to put it lightly. Lion's going to kill it for us. But to make sure that he actually **does**, he must be allowed to remain free now."

"So... what does that mean?" The same trooper broke in again. "How are you going to stop all the other law enforcement agencies from apprehending him?"

"I'm not." Habeeb said offhand. "We were the only ones who had any real chance of subduing him. However, it's also important that the possibility of capture be there."

The trooper scratched his head. "Again, what the Hell are you talking about?"

Habeeb smiled in a slightly creepy way. "You'll see in due time, friends."

.

Lion finally stopped running a few miles away from the center of Lohkiarn, and the battle zone. He panted heavily, as the consequences of his actions finally began to dawn on him. 'I can't go home.' He realized. 'I can't do much. I killed someone...' If he were to be caught, he would likely end up in prison for the rest of his life. Even a plea of temporary insanity would land him in a mental hospital. He couldn't afford to be captured, and because of that, he couldn't go home. He couldn't go to school, or even contact many of the people he knew.

However, he didn't think he could live without seeing Tess. That was sure going to complicate things. She was almost always either at school, where he couldn't go, at the Soultech building, where he couldn't go, or at her house, where he shouldn't go, because that's where the president of Soultech lived. Even if he did go to her house, he would have trouble getting to her without being noticed, given that he couldn't fly anymore.

That brought up a whole other bundle of worries. Why had his power suddenly vanished? Maybe he had simply used it all up. After all, he had never completely drained himself before, and so he didn't know what it was like. He didn't find that too likely though, given how fiercely he had been fighting shortly before it happened. It was almost like something inside him had broken... Like pulling a muscle, maybe. But how did you strain every cell in your body at once? He needed to know more.

When he had had some time to consider things, he was left with three goals: avoid capture, somehow see Tess, and solve the mystery of his vanishing powers. As he began to hear the blaring of police sirens in the distance, he knew which one of those was about to become his top priority.

.

Lion quickly ducked behind a pile of rubble that had apparently been thrown from the explosions in the center of the city, all the way out here. On the outskirts of the city, on the one side that was bordered by the giant stairs, rather than the huge wall, the living high rises gave way to old style houses, where the richest of the rich lived. Of course, the Soultech president owned a mansion out here, but even this far from the fight, it had nearly been crushed by debris. He scrunched himself up tighter against the rocks as the police ships zoomed by. The sun was starting to set, and he was in the rocks' shadow, so he escaped detection.

Half a minute later, he stood up, and was only then hit with the realization that he had no idea where Tess' room might be. He slowly approached the front gate, trying to analyze the house. The shades were the same in every room, so there were no clues there. There were no old toys, knick knacks, or anything else in any of the window sills either. 'Looks like Mr. President runs a tight ship.' Lion thought. 'Bastard.' He tried to analyze things a bit further. The mansion was two stories tall, and even though each floor had loads of space, logic dictated that the master bedroom was on the ground floor, and all other bedrooms on the second. The second floor seemed like a good place to start looking then.

He pulled himself up to the top of the fence, then, being wary of the pointy tips of the black metal, unceremoniously dumped himself into the bushes on the other side. He wasn't quite careful enough though, as the sleeve of his shirt caught on one of the points, and proceeded to rip right open. Not that it mattered a whole lot after the beating the shirt and its owner had already received today, but Lion lamented the fact anyway, especially when he realized that he had no change of clothes.

He quickly forgot about the clothes as a flock of birds that had been unsettled by his trip into the bushes took to the air as he began to come out. So far, his plan of being stealthy was a miserable failure. He crouched down, and tried to move while staying in the bushes. That made so much noise though, that he quickly abandoned the activity. He stood up again, and paused to consider his next course of action. Perhaps he shouldn't have jumped the fence right away, and-

"What are you doing?" Lion whirled around, to find Tess standing at the door. She didn't look happy, and when she saw that it was him, a look of anger appeared on her face. What did she know?

"Tess, I... I had to talk to you. I've... made a terrible mistake."

"I know." She said icily. He began to stride forward, and saw that she had been crying recently. "Mattheus is dead, reportedly killed by the rogue 'synth known as Lionello." Lion opened his mouth, but she continued before he could say anything. "So I only have one question for this rogue 'synth. Was it on purpose, or was it merely an incredibly convenient accident?"

"What?!" Lion drew back in shock. "Tess, I never bore any ill will toward him, you have to believe me! How would killing him prove that I'm better than him? It wouldn't!"

"So, it was an accident?" She asked in the same icy tone. Her eyes were borring into his, and he knew then, that if he really loved her, he couldn't possibly lie.

The fact that he truly did love her brought him precious little comfort as he confessed, "It was an accident that I killed **him**, very much so. But, I can't deny that I meant to kill one of them. The fact that a Soultech trooper died was no accident."

The front door slammed in his face. "Tess, please!" He pounded on the door. "You don't know what they-"

"Get out of here!" Her voice overpowered his. "I never want to see you again!!"

"If you'll just listen to me, I-"

"I've already called the police. If I were you..." She paused a moment. "If I were you, I'd commit suicide. But since you're you, you should go."

"Tess, you have to understand, they..." Lion drifted off, expecting to be interrupted again. "Tess?" There was no response. Lion slowly clenched his fists, all his muscles tensing. A pain more profound than any the Weapons had inflicted on him began to stab at his insides. Her anger, in her voice, her eyes... her rejection of him... her inability to understand... her unwillingness to listen... the events of the day all culminated to stab into his heart.

Then, slowly, he felt an anger more intense than any he'd ever known in his life well up within him. It didn't seem to have any direct source, but yet, it was so powerful, that his muscles trembled as he struggled to control it. He couldn't even see straight. As his head involuntarily jerked to the side, he felt a small spark of power well up inside of him. As his whole body contibued to throb, it became apparent that his extreme anger was somehow aiding the return of his powers. So, he nurtured it. He expressed it. And it emerged.

"NoooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! THIS! **I CAN'T!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!"**

Wealthy citizens all over the neighborhood hurried to close their windows, and wondered when the obnoxious noise would die down.

They would wait a long time.

.

"Why can't I make you understand?!" - Harry McDougal, _Outlaw Star_

(Nanaki's note: Believe it or not, I called this chapter "West Side Story" simply because it takes place on the west side of the city. The fact that Lion does kind of have a Tony-like role to Tess' Maria was completely lost on me at the time. Also, once again, a painful incident for Lion is based on a similar incident from my own life. I didn't yell and annoy everyone like Lion though, I just punched my wall so hard that I almost broke some knuckles, then went for a walk in the woods for about six straight hours. I actually worried myself a bit with my anger, but that's fortunately the only time a girl has gotten me that pissed off, and the Hell of it is, she wasn't even trying to. And NO, I didn't kill anybody. The argument had a very different start, just a similar ending.)


	38. Lion's Story: The Secret

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 38** **Lion's Story: The Secret**

By Nanaki

3497 A.D.

So, on to item #2 on the agenda. He had to figure out exactly what had happened to his powers. The expression of pure, unadulterated rage he had let loose in front of Tess' house had reawakened something within him, but it had only restored the most basic, weakest abilities. Probably less than one percent of what he knew he was capable of doing. Still, his inability to control the anger disturbed him. While he actually hadn't lashed out or hit anything, the all consuming purity of it was worrisome.

Since it had reawakened his power, maybe the anger was also caused by his power in some way. In any case, he needed to know more. Since the 'Synth Labs had never been rebuilt after he and his siblings destroyed it, it stood to reason that the data on 'synths would now be stored in the main database of Soultech, which, of course, could only be accessed inside the Soultech building. It would be incredibly stupid of him to go there. On the other hand, they wouldn't be expecting anything **that** stupid. In any case, he needed to think this one out first.

.

A bored receptionist on the main floor of the Soultech building looked up without interest as an old man with a white beard hobbled up to the desk. "May I help you?" She asked in a monotone.

"Ye-hack! Yes." Lion growled out in what he hoped wasn't an over the top crotchety voice. "I saw that prototype everyone's after when I was out on my walk this mornin'. He was browsin' in the dumpster behind the Skybreak dealership in block 183."

The receptionist turned to look at two Soultech troops who had been talking amongst themselves about twenty feet away. "Did you guys catch that?"

"Loud and clear." One of them growled. Lion noticed that both of them were covered with bruises. He smiled a bit. "But General Habeeb's orders were to let him roam free."

'Habeeb?!' Lion's brow furrowed in puzzlement. What possible interest could the greatest Soultech soldier of this age have in him? And why in the world would Habeeb choose to **help** him? It didn't make any sense.

"But, he didn't say anything about not being able to take a look, did he?" The other asked.

"No, he didn't, at that." The first grinned deviously. "Let's go check it out." It was plain from their expressions that they intended to "check out" his vital organs. They were complete idiots if they thought they would be any kind of a match for him.

Then, he caught himself, and sighed. They had been complete idiots yesterday. Now, they were probably quite reasonable. Then, he snapped back to the present moment. He and the receptionist were the only ones in the lobby now. It was time to put his plan into action.

With the absence of the sheer raw power he had known all his life, he was quickly becoming more skilled at using small amounts of energy. And, while he appeared to turn around and head back toward the door, a small application of those new skills caused several of the security scanners in the lobby to short out, including the one above the entrance to the emergency stairwell. He stopped in his tracks as a call came in on the receptionist's station, but she didn't notice. "Hey, you've got four scanner blackouts in the lobby. What's up?"

"Huh? I don't know." She responded. "Nothing happened here that would cause them to short out..."

"Some idiot must be trying to hack the security system." Came the reply from the other end. "You inspect them manually, while I'll see what I can do from this end." The call then cut off.

"Oh, sure, inspect them manually." The receptionist grumbled. "What am I, a goddamned mechanic? I don't get paid enough to put up with this crap." As she began to peer at the scanner next to the stairwell, her head suddenly slammed into it, smashing the main lens into several pieces, and knocking her out.

"Then demand a raise or quit." Lion said, brushing his hands off. "Honestly, if you don't like something, change it." Then, he took off into the stairwell. "Like I'm about to do..." Most of the security personnel would now be trying to get a trace on a non-existant hack, while he rushed up the flights, heading for the 25th floor, where the main drives were stored.

The foolproof electronic lock clicked open at a small spark from his fingertip, and he rushed inside the dimly lit room where the seven million exabyte main drives were stored. There were only a few terminals in the currently uninhabited room, and Lion rushed over to one.

His finger was about a millimeter above the touchboard, when the monitor suddenly switched to a new screen. A voice that seemed to come from all directions at once filled the chamber. "Welcome, Lionello." Lion jumped straight out of the chair. "Do not be alarmed. I will allow no one else access to this place as long as you remain here."

"What are you?" His voice sounded calm, though his heart was still thumping in his ears.

"I am the 'Synth Drive." The voice responded. "And I have been instructed to tell you everything you wish to know." Lion glanced around warily, but there seemed to be no sign of a threat in the dark chamber. If anyone was hiding behind the large quantum computers, they could have easily ambushed him by now. Finally, he sat down again, and he absorbed information from the 'Synth Drive for a good while. In the end, despite the risk, he couldn't help laughing out loud.

Habeeb joined in the chuckle.

.

Lion was smiling broadly at the sheer cosmic joke of it all when he emerged back into the stairwell. What he had learned was so extraordinary that he wasn't as surprised as he should have been when he saw someone coming up the flight of stairs just below him. Then, he saw who it was, and his brief moment of levity was scattered to the four winds. "Tess..." He whispered, forgetting that he was still in disguise, and was giving himself away.

"Who?" She glanced up, and their eyes met. "Lion!"

"What are you doing here?" He whispered.

"I'm one of the few people with the manual override codes for every system in the building. This one was hacked and..." Her angry glare returned as she trailed off. "Though why I'm explaining myself to you is beyond me at the moment." She turned to reach for the communicator on her belt.

"Please don't." He said in a normal tone of voice. He placed his hand around her arm, and used as little force as possible to prevent her from grabbing the device.

"Don't touch me!" She jerked away from him.

"Okay." He said simply, and put his hands in his pockets. "I wish you would just let me explain a little here."

"What could you possibly say that would change anything?" She demanded.

"I love you." He responded quickly. Well, that had changed something. Her expression of pure anger changed to pure shock. "You may think I don't know nearly enough to say that yet, and maybe I don't, but I feel it. I've loved you from the first moment I saw you. And I'd hoped that I would never do **anything** to hurt you." He slowly sank down to the stairs. "I've already failed in that regard."

She slowly shook her head. "You're just a kid, and-"

"I'm **much** older than you." He finally smiled a bit as his turn to interrupt came around.

"And you're a criminal, wanted for murder." She finished dryly. "For the murder of someone I loved, or at least liked very much."

"What do you feel towards me?" He felt a bit queasy as the question he dreaded the answer to escaped his mouth.

"I honestly don't see any way anything can work out." She turned away from him. "I won't turn you in... and even now, I can't say that I hate you, but..."

Lion looked to the side as well, as a few tears began to form in his eyes. He felt defeated now. He wanted to mull things over, and maybe try to talk to her later down the line. However, he was also getting a sense that it was now or never. He had to turn things around right now, or he'd never be able to. "I wish..." He started slowly. "I wish there was some way you could see into my head... read my thoughts. Then you'd see..." He slowly turned back toward her. She raised an eyebrow. "Read my thoughts..." He repeated. He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he went ahead and tried it.

Tess wondered just what he was doing as he slowly put two fingers of each hand to his temples, and began concentrating. Before long, a soft yellow glow began to come from his head. Suddenly, a few fleeting glimpses raced through her head of people, 'synths, she didn't know. A feeling of family went with them. She suddenly realized just what he was doing, and her eyes widened. "Lion, wait! I don't think-" But then, it was too late. His eyes opened again, and he looked straight at her.

She was suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of warmth and caring. A love, yes, it was definitely love, of her. Of all her faults and quirks, of all the things she was ashamed of, as well as everything she liked about herself. Accompanying that was a strong desire to protect her, even as he was uncertain what he needed to protect her from, or whether he could. And finally, a need. Not a greedy want or desire, but a true need. A feeling that he wouldn't be complete until she was a part of him.

It only lasted about three seconds before Lion cried out in pain and collapsed against the stairs. The glow around his head vanished. However, she had needed less than one second. She slowly walked over to him and helped him sit back up. As he groggily shook his head, she realized that he had just bared some of his most private thoughts, with no definite goal or ending in his mind. He had done it simply... for her.

.

The next morning, as Jaguarena slowly walked out to the main hangar bay of their building to get the Skyshroud Ranger and head off to her court appearance, she was stymied by the fact that the Skyshroud Ranger wasn't there. In the center of its usual docking place was a note, stating simply: "Dates and stuff. You understand."

.

"Love and hate are flip sides of the same coin." - Kanon, _Wild ARMs 2_


	39. The Heptlavicus Council

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 39:** **The Heptlavicus Council**

By Nanaki

_"Of course, we kept tabs on the Elder Lavoids, the seven Queens, and all important Class A1s at all times. Or as close to 'all times' as we could manage, anyway. So when Laria suddenly disappeared from deep space travel after covering only one tenth of the distance between the Kalendra system and the Kodos system, we noticed. And so we noticed that she had instantly arrived at Heptlavica as well. But when she disappeared for 73 _million_ years, there was nothing we could do.  
One of the most dangerous and least widely known facts about Lavoids is that their long lifespans do not limit their function in a human context. Despite the fact that the current estimated lifespan of Lavoids is 100 _billion_ years, five years still seems like a long time to them. So it was deemed inconceivable that Laria could just sit around doing diddly squat for that long. And soon, Laria was forgotten completely.  
"You see, humans really cannot comprehend geologic time. All of the human organizations ever formed to combat the Lavoid Project existed for around 100,000 years, the majority of that time belonging to the Hunters, and that's only because we're not afraid to time travel. I'm sure that seems like an incredibly long time. Tempo lived to the age of 200, if the legends are to be believed, and the Hunters existed for 400 times the lifespan of our most famous member. It boggles the mind to think about it.  
"Which is why, for most of the galaxy's history between the incidents at Elosia and Tejran, it was assumed that there were only four Lavoid Queens. The Queen Mother, the last surviving Earth Queen, who birthed the other six, was in the middle of her 500 million year "vacation" on Earth. If not for her evolution stasis, the humans there would have evolved into Finori _long_ ago. We still don't know where Terminateria is, which is going to come back to haunt us, I'm sure. And Laria... Well, we all know what Laria really did.  
"But I digress. In the 70 million year interim, Earth is the only place where homo sapiens remained throughout. Elsewhere, the parallel evolution of humans on many worlds continued, but not at the same time. Long after the denizens of Elosia had become Finori, dinosaurs were still prowling the jungles of Tejran. The remaining four Queens kept quite active, and the names of Jenyel, Jaira, Aruna, and Sanal can be found in the histories of many planets that had humans and/or dragons in the interim. But there was no overall continuity among them, which is why the other three seemed to disappear.  
"No, I'm not offering excuses as to why we nearly let them destroy the universe before we even realized there was a problem. There is no _reason_ to offer excuses, because what happened could not have been prevented by humans. It probably couldn't have been prevented by the dragons either, given that Naindal Fiora was the one to finally erase Laria from existence, and she even fooled him. It was simply outside the mental capacities of humans to comprehend what was going on. No one could have predicted it. Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Hawking, Nichols, and Lucca combined couldn't have predicted it, because the human mind just isn't wired to work that way, I'm sorry.  
"And if a Queen under the most intense scrutiny we could muster could disappear without a trace, is it any wonder that a 'lowly' Class B managed to do what he did?"_

- Hunter Field Commander Greschal "Kash" Vecar, Special Liaison to the LEA, as quoted in the inital press release following the Tejran incident

.

30,000 A.D. (Elosia reckoning), Planet Heptlavica, Kodos System

In the inner confines of her shell, Laria slowly opened her eyes. She could tell from the sensation of deceleration that reached her even here, that her shell had emerged from hyperspace. With a mental command, the gaps in her bio-armor that allowed her to see out contracted, then expanded again. They now combined into a viewscreen that showed the magnificent red giant star of the Kodos system. Laria sighed wistfully. As always, that star looked absolutely delicious, but when the Queen Mother had claimed this system as Lavoid "home territory", she had also decreed that no one, not even herself, was to feed on the energy from it. "Not even the asteroids!" She'd yelled, smacking a then little Sanal on the behind for opening a black hole at the edge of Kodos' Oort Cloud. "I want this place to look like we're raising a crop of humans here! If we turn this into what a 'normal' Lavoid system looks like, the damn dragons will be over here in two seconds."

At the time, Laria had wondered what the point was, but as always, the Queen Mother had been right. By the time the dragons noticed anything unusual about Kodos, there was such an armada of Lavoids amassed here that even the entire Fiora clan was powerless to do anything about it. Now, as Laria directed the compound spines on her shell to spread out and catch the solar wind, decreasing her velocity further, Heptlavica came into view. Lavoids dwelled on every planet in the system, but Heptlavica was the only one that could support most forms of sentient life. Thus, it was a convenient place to hold interrogations, for those few enemies they actually needed alive.

As the size of the planet rapidly increased in front of her, her shell began to uncurl from the ball shape it assumed for space travel, and its claw legs extended from underneath. As she began circling into a high orbit, she could begin to make out the individual Magmeinar Lavoids that maintained a constant guard over it. Known as Class A1s to the humans, the 2,000 Magmeinars that orbited the planet at 100 kilometers up would not leave their posts for as long as the system existed. Frankly, she didn't envy them their job, but judging by the erratic way they parted to let her through, as opposed to the strict formation they were supposed to adhere to, many of them had ordered their Farilii to smuggle PlayStation 9,237s onto their shells. They would probably be lectured by Terminateria later, but she didn't really care.

Her shell began to glow a bright orange as she entered the atmosphere, and it immediately absorbed the heat energy as it was generated. The organic cables connecting her bio-armor with the shell then transfered the energy into the armor. The ten fire laser batteries in her chestplate opened up, and fired at a single point. As the energy converged in midair, she slowed time to a standstill, then drew magical waves from a wavelength heavily saturated with time magic. She used the time waves to form a magical barrier around the impending explosion, then sped the flow of time back up to normal. A blinding flash filled the shell, and when she could see again, an ominously humming gate floated there, emitting a few crackles of electricity.

She yawned, then tossed it toward the back of her inner sanctum. It drifted over to float slightly above the thirty or so others that were already there. Now she was through the atmosphere, and flew through the air toward her landing site. While most of the planet was lush and green, the official landing zone of the Queens was now a crater over twelve kilometers deep. She spotted the eyesore on a small island just off the east coast of the largest continent.

Magically, her armor rapidly grew in size and softness, until it formed an improptu shock couch that surrounded her completely. She suddenly sank into it, and a viewscreen formed in the mass that surrounded her, showing that she had indeed landed, to judge by the clouds of dust outside. At a mental command, the armor retracted up into the shell completely. Then her shell began to power down. She could hear the soft clunks as the spines tipped back until they were lying against her shell. Now, the shell would look like it had been hit head on by a severe blast of wind magic. As she passed the energy containers on her way to the eye pod, their pulsing slowed to a gentle, sleepy rhythm. Then, the twelve pronged eye pod whooshed open, like a circle of daggers being drawn apart, and she could see outside.

She was surprised to see the dust had cleared already, but then she saw why. They were here already. All of them. She raised an eyebrow in surprise, then smiled. "Sanal, Aruna, Jaira, Jenyel." She nodded at each in turn, then her smile broadened. "Terminateria. It is good to see you."

"Likewise, sister. Likewise." Terminateria's spinal needles extended and retracted rapidly, creating a wavy effect that she used whenever she was especially pleased. She was still the only Lavoid who could manipulate her spikes so precisely. "It's good to spend time with someone," and now she turned to glare at the other Queens, "whose priorities didn't get completely turned around just because a few million humans got killed in the war!"

Laria glanced around quickly, and now saw that the others were all glaring at her. Looking away toward the edge of the crater, she saw that four of the Queen shells were grouped close together, but the fifth was at least a couple miles away from the others. Two of the four in the group had large spiny buds growing on the sides, signifying that they were nearing the end of their reproductive cycle. She scrutinized the others more closely, and sure enough, Aruna and Sanal were both heavy with child. "War?" She finally asked, turning back toward Terminateria.

"Oh sure, like we're going to fall for the innocent 'prior time' routine." Aruna narrowed her eyes even more. "God, you're pathetic." She turned her back on Laria, her long purple hair whipping out behind her as she did.

"What the Hell are you talking about?" Laria asked, glaring a little herself.

Now Terminateria gave her a funny look. "What time reference **have** you come from?" She asked.

"What?" Laria kept her eyes narrowed, but then they widened in realization. "Oh! You're all feuding about the civil war! Sorry ladies, but that was a long time ago for me."

"Sure it was." Aruna said bitterly, but she turned back around.

"Anyway Laria," Terminateria broke back in, "I'd love to talk to you, but it'll have to wait until tonight. I've got a busy day planned."

"I'm sure you do, but my plans won't take long, and I believe they would take precedence."

Terminateria smiled. "Sister, your plans **always** take long. Sorry, but I've got to supervise interrogation sessions with the Great Elder of Namek, two planeswalkers from Dominaria, four Hunter commanders, and a Lunarian ambassador. Plus, I've got lunch with the Invid Regent and Naindal Fiora."

"Fiora?" Laria glared. "Why show any courtesy to genetic trash like that?"

Terminateria finally looked annoyed. "Because Naindal Fiora is more powerful than four of us put together, for starters. Idealism needs some basis in reality, you know."

Laria grinned fiercely. "If my idea works out, it won't have to."

There was a collective groan from the other five Queens. "All right." Terminateria shrugged. "Let's hear it."

"Oh come on, it'll be worth your while, I promise." Laria laughed. "My plans revolve around the spawn of Lavos."

All six flinched at mention of Lavos. If the Queen Mother would only allow him to be removed from the timeline, the Lavoid situation would be drastically improved. Of course, for reasons known only to her, she insisted that Lavos' existence remain untouched. And though Laria regretted it, she now saw the reason why. Jenyel finally shook her head.

"I'm going to assume you're talking about the 'Class B', as the humans would say." She began. "His larval form was tested by Lavos at birth, as you well know. His chi power, magic wavelengths, and time manipulation were all consistent with a Keisegn."

"Which makes me wonder," Jaira broke in, "**Why** you're wasting our time with this."

"You're all so short-sighted." Laria shook her head. "If he succeeds in what he's doing, he will become a God."

"Thbbbbbbbt!" Five heads all turned, mouths agape, to stare at Aruna. Not only had it been rude, but she had just made herself the first Lavoid in recorded history to blow a rasberry.

The skin on Laria's face went from blue to slightly purple. "I beg your pardon?!"

Aruna was smiling now. "Since you seem to have developed a hearing problem since we last met, I'll repeat my earlier statement for your benefit. I said, 'Thbbbbbbbbbbbt!!'" Laria's mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. "My husband had the chance to become the supreme being of a universe of his creation, but he declined in favor of a mortal life. **He** is a God."

"Husband?" Laria finally sputtered. "What the Hell? How could one drone possibly father enough Lavoids for any Queen of mating age to be respected?"

"He's not a drone." Aruna smiled softly, gently patting the bulge in her front. "He's a-"

"Human." Terminateria spat in a venom filled voice.

"Human?!" Laria demanded. "That settles it, you're insane. Wholly and completely insane, you hear me?!"

"Why not?" Aruna asked softly, looking at the ground. Where before, Laria's mere presence had been enough to anger her, it now appeared that nothing could upset her. "We are just a separate species of humans from the 'sapiens,' you know. Besides, he's quite exceptional, for a human."

But Laria hadn't heard the last part. "'We are **NOT HUMAN!!**'" She shouted, both mentally and physically. The others massaged their throbbing temples, softly. "The 'homo' part of _homo lavicus_ is a disease! A plague! If we can ever ressurect the Elders, we'll be cured of it!!"

"Maybe **you** will." Aruna shrugged, refusing to let Laria bother her. "I'm quite happy with the way I am."

"What? Skin that borders on pasty blue, weird-ass hair, and hideous spinal structure? God, **you're** pathetic."

Aruna finally looked up, now grinning maliciously. "Besides," she ignored Laria's rant, continuing with her earlier train of thought. "I rather enjoy the feel of a human male."

"Uuuugh!!" Terminateria and Laria both shuddered involuntarily. Even Sanal looked a little queasy. "She's right, you know." Terminateria said, still wearing a fierce grimace, "You are completely insane." Aruna just gave a soft laugh in response, apparently content now. "Anyway sister, please continue with your... with your..."

As Terminateria drifted off, they all turned to look at the exact center of the crater. A strong wind was emanating from there, blowing outward in all directions, kicking up dust. Then, in a display that defied description to any visual system even loosely based on human optics, the light slowly began to drain out of the center, until it could not be seen. It was as if the core of the crater had suddenly been time-shifted to midnight on a moonless night, while the rest of the landing zone remained unaffected. Then, incredibly, impossibly, the darkness condensed, solidifying itself into a humanoid being. Parts of it lightened a bit, to turn a bright blood red.

"It's been 20,000 years since all six junior Queens were last gathered together." A voice came from the thing, though no mouth was visible. "It would have been smart of you to wait 20 million more."

"And who are you, puny thing, to tell us what we should do?" Terminateria demanded. As she shifted her eyes to monitor non-visible parts of the spectrum, the appearance of this creature still did not make sense. Its basic body structure was like that of a human, but simplified, somehow. It seemed to be covered from head to toe in an extremely flexible, tight fitting armor, until she realized that it was the being's skin. Two sharp horns of red metal jutted up from the sides of a metal head, but all of it also gave off signs of life.

He drew out what appeared to be two sword hilts, the pommels stuck together, and began to twirl it in an odd way above his head. But Terminateria soon realized that it was anything but odd. The tightly controlled style of his movement told her that there was a purpose to it, though it escaped her at the moment. Finally, the apparition answered her question. "Who am I? I am a Traveler. I am a natural planeswalker. I am Dark Lord of the Sith, Supreme Magi of the Core, and the strongest of the Hellspawn. But above all, I am a metal demon, and I am the soon-to-be slayer of Lavoid Queens. To defeat you, I came dancing all the way up from the fires of Hell. I, am Boomerang Flash!"

.

"So, this is my prey!" - Boomerang Flash, _Wild ARMs_

(Nanaki's note: This chapter probably should have been called "Crossover Craziness Part One". However, that's mainly due to Boomerang Flash. This chapter and the next DO introduce and give some important information about the main villains of the whole saga, so I hope you're paying attention.)


	40. When Angels Deserve to Die

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 40:** **When Angels Deserve to Die**

By Nanaki

_"Many people hail Boomerang as an honorable idiot, and others as a selfish idiot. Honorable, because he was the only individual to ever come close to single-handedly destroying the Lavoids. Selfish, because if he had asked for help, he might have succeeded. But in reality, he was neither. He had no interest in helping humanity and the other sentient races of the universe, not even his own kind. His fight against the Lavoids was not based on revenge; at least not as we know it. His attempted assassination was only because the Queens were taking control of a galaxy that he perceived as belonging solely to him. His strongest wish was simply to live as a brave warrior, and die as one as well. In his own eyes, he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams."_

- Latula Carev, The Definitive History of the Lavoid Race

.

30,000 A.D. (Elosia Reckoning), Planet Heptlavica

"Dark Lord of the Sith?" Terminateria snorted. "Dearie, I don't think being the leader of a group of ancient, self-destructive, inept chi-users is anything to brag about."

Laria though, was grinning deviously. She spread her fingers out, and long claws quickly extended from where her nails had been. "Before we get started, as fair warning, I should tell you that all the powers of darkness in the universe combined can't hope to stand against even a single true agent of Chaos. And you're standing against six of them."

Boomerang was twirling his odd sword hilts more rapidly now. "You can spout off all the Chaos dogma you want, but we both know that's complete bullshit. Before anything existed in this or any other universe, there was darkness. When all is said and done, the stars have all died, and every last drop of Chaos has been used up, there will still be darkness."

"You idiot. Chaos is hardly a finite substance." Sanal scoffed.

"Eh." He shrugged, apparently indifferent, angering the Queens at his lack of respect. Now, a strange device materialized on his face. Laria though it looked kind of like a battle monacle, a concept that made her laugh. With his free hand, Boomerang tapped the side of it, and turned around slowly, staring at each of them for a couple seconds, tapping the device each time he moved. "My scouter reports that four of you have power levels of 25 million." He turned back to Laria. "You, 30 million." Now he turned to Aruna. "And you, 50 million. Nice." He whirled back to Terminateria. "But not nearly nice enough to save you. If your puny brain can comprehend what I'm measuring, you'll see I'm over 300 million when I get warmed up."

"If **you** actually manage to top a million in any category," Terminateria snorted, "we must be talking about chi. And if chi is all you're measuring by, you're a true idiot indeed."

"Oh, I know you have quite the impressive mastery of time magic." Boomerang said smugly. "I also know that it won't be enough to save you either."

"Uh..." Laria turned to Terminateria. "I hate to break into your pre-battle boasting session, but how much time are we going to give him to get ready on whatever move he's planning over there?"

"Oh, there's no need to give me any more time." The demon said, and the lower part of his metal face lifted up, suggesting a smile. "I'm ready to go, right now." Then, his other arm shot up to the sword hilts, and a split second later, a huge, glowing blade shot out of each end. Each was at least five feet long, and glowing a bright purple. As they rotated rapidly, a thumping sound, like a helicopter blade, echoed throughout the crater. Boomerang stopped the rotation suddenly, one end of the dual blade pointed at Laria. "Starstorm Scream!!" Bright orange bolts of jagged energy rained down from the sky, converging on her. Before the explosion had even dissipated, the demon was facing Terminateria. "Kaioh-ken times eighty!! Hyaaaaaaah!!"

Even as a fireball at least four times the size of his body engulfed him, he had already closed the distance to Terminateria, and was slashing away with his weapon. The eldest sister had a few close calls at first, but she quickly sped up the timestream immediately around herself, until she was keeping up with him easily. "I see you took a page from the book of Exar Kun." She said calmly, as if having an ominously humming, allegedly dangerous weapon slashing at her ten thousand times a second was about as trying as taking a nap.

"Ah, you mean Atma Demon Sabre Lucied?" Boomerang gave the impression of smiling again. "More from Darth Maul, actually. The hilt on Exar Kun's was so cramped, I don't know how the idiot managed to avoid cutting his own hand off."

"The Sith were from a galaxy which ceased to exist over forty billion years ago." She rapidly jumped backward as his vicious attack continued relentlessly. "Why devote yourself to such an outmoded order?"

"How would **you** know what happened forty billion years ago?" He demanded. "Lavoids didn't exist until way after the space age on Earth."

"Lavoids exist in **all** times." Terminateria smiled. "How do you think it came to be that humans evolved on Coruscant and Onderon?"

"What?!" She jerked her head back, as he almost got her in the eye with that outburst.

"Earth **is** the human home planet. Where humans first evolved. And the **only** place they would have evolved, if not for us."

"You lie!!" Boomerang shouted. "They evolved on Filgaia! That's firmly in the heart of metal demon space! No Lavoid has ever gotten within ten systems of it!"

Terminateria just grinned wickedly. "Believe what you want to."

"Gyaaah!!" The demon roared, and a mouth finally revealed itself to bellow that shout of pure rage. It was accompanied by a burst of chi that sped up his actions even more. Terminateria hurried to compensate, but as she lunged backward, he landed a slash across her right cheek. As they both momentarily stood in silence, an orange ichor began to run down her face.

"Ryah!!" Boomerang whirled around, bringing his sabre up in time to parry a slash from Laria's claws. He twirled around, slashing at her neck, but she ducked, then jumped up again as soon as the sabre had passed over her head, slashing into his back. He whirled around, jabbing at the ground, but she jumped above the blade, and slashed at where his eyes would be, if she could see them. He jerked his head back, and she slashed down into his stomach. However, while her claws passed into his metallic flesh easily, he did not seem to show any signs of pain. She twisted her claws around inside his torso, and while a black liquid that might have been blood began to drip from her hands, he still made no movement. She looked up in puzzlement, just in time to see two white points of light that must have been his glowing pupils.

As his gaze met hers, a sudden swell of chi sent her flying backward through the air, to land tumbling end over end in the dust. She picked herself up, spitting dirt out of her mouth. 'A ki-aigan! He blew me away with a simple little ki-aigan!!'

"Well done!" Terminateria applauded lightly. The demon turned to face her again. "If you have more tricks like that, you may prove to be entertaining. Here, how about this? I promise not to use any time manipulation in this battle except for speed to match your chi boosts. Sound like fun?"

"If you want to seal your own fate," the demon spat at the ground, then cracked his neck, "so be it." He assumed a battle stance, waiting for Terminateria to make the first move. She held up her hand, and a sword hilt materialized in it. A second later, a reddish-orange lightsabre blade shot out of it, but soon expanded to a more complicated design. "That's... the Dreamblade." He whispered.

"Indeed, this is the personal weapon of Lathain of Zeal. Or at least, a remarkably accurate facsimile that's just as powerful." She nodded, then aimed the blade at him. In truth, she wasn't sure at all that this was Lathain's weapon, but she wasn't about to let him know that.

"But how... how did you..." He shook his head, glaring all the while.

"Unfortunately, I didn't get to kill the little pest myself, if that's what you're thinking." She sighed. "It was a gift... from an Elder of the future."

Boomerang laughed out loud. "An Elder. Right. And, he just showed up, gave it to you, and left without helping you solve any of the wide variety of other problems your race has?"

Terminateria laughed too. "It's not my place to understand the motivations of an Elder."

"Whatever." Boomerang angled his body forward. "Wherever you got it, Lathain's TAG won't be enough to finish me."

"Oh, don't worry." Terminateria brought the blade tip to rest on the ground, slightly behind her. "This isn't my... Trump Card!!" As she shouted, she swung the Dreamblade upward faster than the speed of sound. The resulting shockwave had transformed into two bursts of energy by the time it reached the demon. They converged on him, and his form was lost in the resulting explosion.

Terminateria let the sword drop as dust filled the battlefield. "Jeez, Garrett was better at that than you." A smug voice drifted out of the dust cloud. She instantly raised the sword up again, just as she felt a chi boost that meant Boomerang had activated a Kaioh-ken. His form blazed out of the cloud, and stopped dead in front of her. However, as she slashed at him, his body became transparent. Before she even realized what had happened, Atma Demon Sabre Luceid stabbed through her back, over four feet of the glowing blade appearing through her stomach. "As I said, you're no match for me. Goodbye." He dropped the sabre, which instantly cut through her intestines, pelvis, and genitals, until it hit clear air, and clattered at her feet, orange blood spraying all over it. Terminateria tried to speed up the time flow around her so should could cast a healing spell uninterrupted, but it was already too late. "Gyarriku-ho! Gallic Gun!!" He shouted, bringing his palms together, fingers spread apart. A huge, purple beam of chi slammed into the Queen's body, which was vaporised instantly.

As Boomerang's arms dropped back to his sides, his vision seemed to blur. A second later, as he watched a time wave dissipate in all directions around him, he found Laria blocking his stab into Terminateria's back with her claws. Of course, the events of the past few seconds had been changed by a time warp, and Terminateria was just fine. Then, the older Queen started to applaud once more. "Well, you **are** entertaining! Not many beings can speed up faster than I can increase my time flow."

"You thought **that** was fun?" The red metal on the demon's head raised in surprise. "You're even more twisted than Alhazad was. What a sick bitch." She laughed aloud, and started to say something else, but Boomerang lost all interest as the significance of what had just happened hit him. The timeline had been changed... He had never slain Terminateria in the first place, yet she remembered it. Of course, he did too, but that was only because of the temporal shield emitter in his scouter, which the Queens hadn't noticed yet. It was lucky they had only sped themselves up, rather than trying to slow him down. As soon as they did, they would know something was going on. Terminateria, however, had no such device. It was possible that an internal organ had a similar function, but since Lavoids had been engineered by humans, that wouldn't make sense.

Of course, as the acting Traveler in the timeline change, Laria would remember what had happened. She could have quickly communicated what had happened to Terminateria telepathically. It would have had to have been **really** quick, but that had to be what had happened. Because if it wasn't...

"As I thought, your temporal manipulation is amazing." He said out loud. "But as I stated earlier, that won't be enough to save you!" He noticed that Laria's amazing, impervious claws seemed to be wavering in their contact with the demon sabre, and he quickly twirled out of her grasp, shearing off most of the claws as he did so. The temporal sensor in his scouter beeped as it registered the time waves around her speeding up, as she tried to dodge the attack she knew was coming. As he was in the second half of his three sixty, he was impressed to see her nearly out of his way already. But not so impressed that he couldn't just blast into a Kaioh-ken, slicing her head clean off at the start of the explosion that sent him hurtling toward the other four Queens. They were spaced reasonably far apart, tense, but not so much that he couldn't trap them.

"Graaah... Renzoku Energy Dan!!" He rained chi down into the crater with lightning speed. Three of the Queens managed to speed themselves up enough to get outside his blast radius, but one was trapped inside. He tossed the demon sabre up into the air, and raised his hands above his head. "Masenko-haaa!!" Even as the Queen raised her hands up to form a chi barrier, Boomerang caught his descending sabre and blasted straight at her. He flew straight through his still dissipating Masenko explosion, and swung his sabre down just as she was opening her eyes.

He was delighted to find his blade stop short against a Shield spell. He floated down to the ground, and smiled. "I see you actually comprehend the true tactics of this battle."

"Yes." He was surprised to hear her sigh. She slowly looked up at him. "I know what you intend to do. But I wish you wouldn't. Killing you is not something I'm interested in doing. It makes no sense for you to die here."

"You? Kill me?" The demon's brow furrowed, before he showed his glinting teeth again. "I see you're into psychological warfare too. So then, Aruna." She gasped, quietly. "It's true what they say about you. You're the most human of them all. Which makes you the most dangerous."

She smiled softly. "I'm not bluffing. If you continue this battle, you will be destroyed. Though I admit, it's not I who will kill you."

"It seems you thought of everything." He continued in a friendly tone. "That leaves me no choice but to do something completely unexpected!" He raised the demon sabre back up, burst into a high Kaioh-ken, and rapidly hacked away at her Shield.

"What are you doing?! Stop!" She cried out, which was puzzling, but he continued his relentless assault. Suddenly, Laria appeared a few feet to his right, smiling.

"Why waste your time fighting- aaaauuggghhh!!" She screamed as he fluidly disemboweled her, not even pausing before resuming his attack on Aruna. They flew off to the west, leaving Laria spilling her blood into the dust.

"You are not worthy of my attention." He said over his shoulder.

"Please." Aruna said softly. "Surely you've realized by now how you will die if you continue."

"I've known all along." For a moment, his features lightened enough that she could make out his face. It contained a truly happy wry grin. It quickly darkened again. "What makes you think I care?" He raised his sabre high, and fire engulfed both blades. "Ryaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!" His shout seemed to dissolve into an bestial snarl, and with a sense of dread, she detected a fluctuation in the magical field, and knew what he was going to do.

Atma Demon Sabre Lucied smashed through her Shield spell, sending visible magic waves arcing into the ground, then carved deep into her abdomen. He expected her to lash out at him, or set off a spell right in his face. Instead, she held her hands up to her eyes, weeping openly. He was perplexed, but he couldn't have hoped for a better reaction.

As he turned to look up at the other Queens, he was surprised to find tears in his eyes, but even more surprised to find tears in theirs as well. Absently, he raised his left arm, and fired a chi blast that destroyed Aruna's shell. A piercing sound filled the air, and he whirled around to see Sanal emitting a shriek that slowly dissolved into the Lavoid race's traditional battle cry. As one, the Queens rushed at him, all claws extended, magic spells flying, and chi blasts aimed at him. As enough impending destruction to destroy a solar system roared at him, Boomerang closed his eyes, and mused softly to himself. "Well, it appears that the human feeling of kindness still exists in Lavoids, even in the blackest of hearts. No matter what happens now, I've already won."

As the Queens descended on him, he allowed them to rip him to shreds and blow him apart. But he infuriated them by continuing to smile until the very end.

The next thing he was aware of was seeing his sabre firmly embedded in Laria's stomach, which had all somehow mutated into titanium, trapping the blade there. Aruna was sprawled in the dust, having been shoved out of the way by Laria. Rather than attack each other, the demon and the Queen were both transfixed by the time wave which was blasting outward from them. Most time waves just rippled the landscape a little, and looked basically like a collection of heat waves. This distortion stained the ground different colors as it went, and seemed to be almost a kilometer in width. It was visible in the sky as well, the clouds stretching and compressing as it passed.

As one, they turned back to Aruna, who was crying openly. "She does not interfere in the affairs of worlds with sentient species. She never manipulates time unless it cannot be avoided." Laria said in a monotone. Boomerang blinked a few times, then understood. Their eyes fixed on the bulge in Aruna's stomach.

"Thus, the massive time distortion was caused by the child." He concluded. He turned slowly, until he was facing Aruna. "I knew they would erase what I did. I wanted them to. But now, it appears I must repeat the event, and preserve it."

For the first time since he had attacked Aruna, Laria smiled again. "No." She said simply, then sent him flying through the air with a vicious backhand. He finally skidded to a halt over two kilometers away, rubbing his jaw.

"How can this be?!" He demanded as he stood up. "My power is more than sufficient to-" He was cut off as Laria materialized in front of him, slamming a kick full out into his chest. He toppled end over end for nearly five hundred meters before grinding to a halt on his neck.

"Your power is nothing." She said simply. "We were playing a fun little game, allowing you to delude yourself into thinking your were more powerful than us."

Boomerang hunched over, then his metallic muscles tightened as the white fire of a pure chi power up surrounded him. "I'll show you power!! My chi is-"

"Overrated." Laria finished for him. "As Terminateria said, you rely on chi far too much. We can draw upon sources of power you cannot imagine. We were beating you at your own game, until you called game over." They both glanced at Aruna, who was still sitting in the dirt. Blue, glowing tears were streaming down her face, dropping into the dirt, where they did not evaporate. A feeling of dread crept up Boomerang's spine as he saw those. He had to play his ace in the hole very soon.

He tilted his head back and let out a loud guffaw. The other five Queens glared at him. "You were beating me at **my** game? That's funny, because I was under the impression that I was playing **your** game." The five collectively raised an eyebrow now. "If I was in any way boring you, I do apologize." Suddenly, he whipped out a device that looked like a white and black egg cobbled together with tubing made out of coral. He pressed a button, and a blue flash blinded everyone for a second. "Do you know what happens when you mix a Chrono Trigger and a Tempo Trigger together?" He asked as his vision returned.

"You didn't!" Jaira shouted.

"I most certainly did." He said smugly.

"What? What did he do?" Laria demanded.

"Well, you'd expect some really weird time distortion when detonating those two at once..." Jaira began.

"But actually, they simply prevent time from being distorted in any way." Boomerang finished. "By anyone. Even those with a natural gift for doing so."

Terminateria tried to speed up the temporal flow around herself, and growled as she realized he was correct. "Finish him! Right now!!" She barked.

Boomerang assumed a defensive stance. "Sources of power I can't imagine? Sorry to break it to you, but imagination is my strongest power of all. There's no way any of you can finish me."

"Talk talk talk!" Laria wagged a wickedly clawed finger as she rushed at him. "If you think we haven't dealt with punks like you before, you're dead wrong."

Boomerang remained motionless until she was almost on top of him, then a white glow surrounded him, and he shouted out, "Righteousness!!" His muscles instantly exploded to nearly triple their former size. He pivoted on his left foot, and landed an absolutely brutal kick to Laria's left cheek. Her head smashed face first into the dirt, but somehow, her feet kept moving, and planted a massive kick under his ribs, sending him flailing through the air. As he was regaining his equilibrium, she activated a chi boost of her own, and rushed up to elbow him at the base of the spine, sending him back into the dirt. She pulled a fist back, ready to shatter his sternum, or whatever passed for it in his metal body. Just before she connected though, his right leg shot into her gut, then slammed her into the ground, creating a sort of miniature crater within the larger one. Boomerang used that momentum to fly back into the air himself.

"Jesus, this is going to take all day." Terminateria groaned. Boomerang glanced back at Aruna, to see that her glowing tears had coalesced into a pool. It was shooting a soft beam of white light high into the the air.

"No, it isn't." He said. "I will end this right now." His body took on a brilliant red glow, and he stuck his arms out at right angles to his body. "Rrrrraaaaaah! Lightning Wave!!" A brilliant wall of energy burst out from his body, quickly rising to over two hundred feet in height. What appeared to be a glowing white tidal wave at first, upon closer inspection, was revealed to be tens of thousands of bolts of lightning, all moving in cooperation with each other. No explosion took place as the spell connected with the Queens, but when it moved on, they were sprawled on the ground, their charred bodies trailing plumes of smoke.

He saw Terminateria raise her head, and instantly burst into a Kaioh-ken. Jetting over to the eldest sister, he kicked her scorched body into the air, then proceeded to land a flurry of kicks that resulted in a series of successivly louder cracking sounds coming from the Queen. He suddenly remembered his demon sabre, and with a tug of the Force, it returned to his hand. Just as he turned to slice Terminateria in half, a blow to the back of his head snapped his neck forward. He whirled around to glare at his attacker, and Jenyel was hurled to the ground with another ki-aigan. Laria raced up at him now, and his eyes glowed brightly green. A small burst of Hellfire erupted across Laria's chest, and she fell back toward the ground screaming in pain. He saw Sanal stirring, and quickly used the Force to hold her down. Finally sure that he had everything taken care of, he turned back toward Terminateria, who was somehow managing to stand on wobbly legs. A healing light repeatedly fell on her, and her broken bones instantly mended up. However, the severe burns inflicted by the Lightning Wave would not heal. "H-how?" She gasped out. "Tell me that much, at least."

"Very well." Boomerang raised the demon sabre above his head, ready to split her in half. "If there is force that pervades this and every other universe based on pure chaos, would there not also be a force derived from pure order?"

She gasped. "You're an agent of Order? So that's how you defeated Chaos?"

"No." He reached a new level of smugness. "I didn't need to tap into Order to deal with the likes of you. As I said, all of you combined can't beat me at my own game. Goodbye." His muscles tensed.

"I can beat you at every game!!" A voice boomed from the heavens.

Boomerang's eyes widened until they were visible. "No!" He shouted, scanning the landscape. "No!! It's not possible! It's...!" He trailed off as he saw Aruna, still sitting calmly in the dust. Either she had protected herself from the Lightning Wave, or something else had. He had a pretty good idea of who that something else was.

He had failed to notice that while they were fighting, the clear blue sky of Heptlavica had become dark with thick clouds, blotting out the sun. Now, the clouds directly above him parted in a perfect circle, and a human shape floated down in the beam of sunlight. Boomerang felt an odd vibration on the side of his face, and realized that his scouter, long-since forgotten, was going nuts. He ignored it for the moment. The human finally landed about twenty feet away from the demon, arms folded calmly. "Just as I thought." Boomerang whispered to himself.

"You are truly impressive!" The man said in a genial voice. He looked to be in his mid twenties, close to six feet tall. He was in good physical shape, but not the mightiest warrior who ever lived. "You really could have killed them all! Unfortunately, I can't allow you to do that."

"Unfortunately?" Boomerang raised an eyeridge. "Why would the Emissary of God think it unfortunate that I was going to kill Lavoid Queens? Aside from your love for Aruna, that is."

"I see you've done your homework." The human nodded. "Yes, I love Aruna with all my heart. And while I wish I could let you slaughter the rest, I cannot."

"Why not? What, is the scourge of the universe officially sanctioned by God?"

"Yes." He said sincerely. "God, the Seraphim, Galaxy Weapons, and Star Weapons have all concurred on the necessity of Lavoids. They are an integral part of the divine mission."

"Then the Seraphim deserve to die." Boomerang said. Growing tired of all the holy talk, he finally took a look at his scouter. Amazingly, he saw it was still tallying numbers, even though it had been a while now. When the last number slammed into place, the CPU instantly exploded, and the crystal display cracked in several places. Even though it was exactly what he expected, what he had expected all along, he still had to gasp as he saw the number in front of him: "Chi power: 999,999,999"

"I thought God believed in the ability of sentient beings to solve their own disputes." Boomerang's calm voice belied his nervousness at the fact that he was moments away from death.

"Normally, yes. But you really would have succeeded in killing all the Queens, even the Queen Mother. I can't allow that."

'Here it comes.' Boomerang thought.

"I'm authorized to stop you however I see fit..." The human trailed off, looking at Aruna, who finally smiled back up at him. "But seeing as you killed the two people most important to me," his voice took on an angry, rasping quality, "in such a brutal manner, I see fit to hang your internal organs out to dry from Elysium's highest spires!!"

"No matter what you do, I- Huack!!" Boomerang had a moment in time where he could clearly see his black blood flying out of his mouth, along with a chunk of metallic flesh. Then, time sped back up to normal, and he skidded into the ground, digging a deep trench. As he sat up, shooting pains ran through his spine. Looking down, he saw that a portion of his torso had been permanently bent out of shape. He looked up. "Your actions are meaningle-auck!!"

He saw far too many teeth go flying out of his mouth, along with a spray of blood, as a kick connected. The side of his face was numb at first, but as feeling returned, a shooting pain went with it. He weakly stood up. "Yeeth, not even gonna let me make a sp-augh!!" The human nailed his legs with a sweeping kick, dropping him instantly. Then the demon felt himself being picked up, and the next thing he knew, he was being rocketed high into the sky.

He blinked rapidly, to make sure he was awake. He had been thrown clear of the atmosphere in just a few seconds! He was in the blackness of space, stars glaring balefully at him. While his metal cells suffered no damage, his organic-based blood cells began to explode from the pressure change. He used a chi burst to fly back into the atmosphere, resigned to his fate. He heard a rattling sound, and realized it was coming from his legs. He looked down just in time to see one foot break off completely, while the other was hanging on by not much more than a wire.

When he began to glow orange from the heat of reentry, the metal holding his foot in place melted, and soon, it did too. Boomerang felt his skin begin to run in rivulets down his wiry muscles, spraying out behind him as he blazed onward, not flinching.

Finally, he plowed through deep blue sky, then a thick layer of cloud, and spotted the human. He flew even faster, ready to deliver a molten punch to the jaw. As he neared the ground, the human easily sidestepped the blow, then delivered a kick to the chest just before the demon rocketed into the ground. The combined effects served to shatter the already battered body into dozens of pieces. Somehow, the voice of the demon still drifted through the dust. The human raised an eyebrow. When the dust cleared, he could see that the head and shoulders of the demon still remained intact, almost like a bust.

"I told them..." the head rasped, "no matter what happened after, I had already won." The head paused to hack up blood. "Your actions here were meaningless." Then the head closed his eyes and frowned, almost as if in concentration. "While I am resigned to my fate, that does not mean I will just submit to it."

The human heard a low humming sound, and whirled around just in time to see Atma Demon Sabre Lucied whirling at him. It slashed at him as quickly and skillfully as if Boomerang had still been wielding it, and he actually had to strain to dodge in time. Boomerang grinned as he manipulated his blade, until he suddenly realized what was really going on.

The human had danced around the blade until it was between himself and the demon, where he abruptly stopped. The sabre slammed into his shoulder, then stopped as if it had hit diamantium armor. The human gave no sign of discomfort. "These actions were not meaningless." He said calmly. "They gave meaning to what was otherwise a bully taunting his lessers."

Boomerang smiled condescendingly. "So anyone who is more powerful than those he fights against is a bully? What does that make you?"

"Bored by this whole thing!" The human smiled, then held his hands up above his head, palms together, fingers spread apart. "Raijinhameha!!" A brilliant ball of yellow chi several miles in diameter instantly burst into being above him, and he slammed it into the ground without a second thought. The explosion doubled the size of the crater, and vaporised the demon's body and sabre in the same instant. It would have vaporised the Queens too, if he hadn't thrown chi barriers up around them. At his direction, the explosive energy shot up hundreds of miles into space, rather than expanding within the atmosphere. The final detonation was visible several systems away.

The human found he was now floating several miles in the air, and the bottom of the Queens' landing zone was now flooding with lava. He had inadvertently done them a favor. He dropped down in front of Aruna. "Call me sooner next time." He said, giving her a tight hug.

She brushed a few remaining tears away. "I didn't think he was really that stupid."

"I don't think it was stupidity so much as he just didn't care." The man responded. "Though I'll bet he cared a bit at the end there." He finally let her go, then smiled.

"So, are you coming home for dinner tonight?" She asked.

"You better believe it!" His grin broadened. "The Farilii brought us a Pizza Hut today."

"A what?" She looked puzzled. "I don't understand this preoccupation you have with ancient Earth food."

"You like it too, don't you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I suppose. But considering it's something of a stretch for me to eat physical food in the first place, you could at least take me to a romantic dinner at that restaurant over the Falls of Singh on Arydesh." She looked at him pointedly.

"It's a stretch for you to eat physical food according to _them_." He waved at the other Queens dismissively, before turning back to her. "But according to... oh." His expression brightened as he finally saw the look in her eyes. He laughed in what would have been an arrogant manner, had he been talking about something else. "Will do then."

"Will you two shut up?!" Terminateria barked, wincing as she got to her feet.

"For Dakama's sake!" Laria groaned, also standing up. "You're even worse than I thought!"

The man glowered, then whirled around. "Do you want me to heal you or not?!" Not a sound was heard. "That's better." He snapped his fingers, and a white burst of light emitted from them. The Queens paused to check themselves over, and found that all of their wicked burns had instantly healed over. Looking up at the edge of the crater, they saw their shells were all in pristine condition as well. He turned and kissed Aruna on the cheek. "I may be a little late. The Elementals are running amok in the south quadrant again."

"I'll wait up." She responded. He effortlessly rocketed into the air, going about twenty times the speed of sound by the time he hit the cloud layer.

While the rest of the Queens waded into the lava for a relaxing soak, Laria and Terminateria remained on the bank. "I want to know where that kid was getting all of his power from." Terminateria growled. "People with intimate knowledge of the Kaioh-ken and a chi level of over 300 million don't show up every day."

"I want to know as well," Laria nodded, "but first, I have a little reality phasing to do."

Terminateria looked surprised. "You're going to Tejran in person?" Laria nodded. "Who's after you that you have to reality phase?"

"No one." Laria grinned. "I just want to screw with the LEA and the Hunters, make them think there was some reason I couldn't just time warp."

Terminateria laughed. "You **are** a wicked one. Well, sounds like we should both get going then. I'll see if I can find out where our mysterious guest came from, and you... create a god, I guess."

"I guess." Laria nodded. "I'm really not sure what will happen, but his project has intrigued me." They began to walk out of the crater, but Laria stopped, and turned around. Terminateria raised an eyebrow as Laria waded into the pool of lava. She stopped when she stood over Aruna, who was floating lazily. The Emissary's wife looked up in surprise. "No one deserves what he did to you." She said sincerely. "But you least of all." Then, to Aruna's immense surprise, Laria leaned over, and embraced her tightly. "No matter how crazy I think you are, you're still my baby sister, and I love you. You certainly have the right to make your own choices."

"Laria... Thank you." Aruna finally returned the embrace. Then, Laria turned away, and walked straight up the side of the crater, not looking back.

"I didn't realize the demon's actions had affected you so intensely." Terminateria said as she fell into step beside her younger sister.

"I was referring to the human." She grinned. They reached the top of the crater, and each headed for their separate shells.

Looking up and magnifying her vision, Terminateria saw that the Magmeinars above the atmosphere were all hurrying away from this part of the planet. They were probably afraid that they would get in trouble for not racing in to help with the battle. She had more important things to worry about now. As her shell opened to admit her, she had already forgotten about it.

As she sank into her armor in the core, Laria's voice entered her mind. 'By the way, do you need any gates?'

'You've gotta be kidding.' Terminateria said dryly. 'I've got about sixty in here already. Save them for your new boy toy.'

'Will do.' Laria responded. 'See you in a few million years. Take care.'

'Take care yourself.' Terminateria replied as her shell began to lift off. 'There's more going on here than meets the eye. Or the mind.'

.

"Father! Father!! Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit.  
Father, into your hands... why have you forsaken me?  
In your eyes forsaken me?  
In your thoughts forsaken me?  
In your heart forsaken, me?! Oh,  
Trust, in, my,  
Self righteous suicide!  
I, cry, when angels deserve to die,  
In my self righteous suicide,  
Oh, I, cry, when angels deserve to die..." - System of a Down - Chop Suey!

(Nanaki's note: So, Crossover Craziness Part Two. Again, there was a fair amount of important foreshadowing amid the action. If you're wondering who the Emissary of God is, don't worry, you WILL find out. Probably not soon, but you will. You might also be able to tell that I was way too into System of a Down back when this chaper was written (Fall 2001). I still think Chop Suey! is a pretty good song, but most of their stuff isn't that great.)


	41. Lion's Story: Reflections

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 41:** **Lion's Story: Reflections**

By Nanaki

3499 A.D.

"Tess, are you okay?" Her roommate at Lohkiarn State University pounded on their bathroom door. Tess wearily lifted her head away from the toilet bowl, groaning as she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

"Oh, I'm fabulous." She croaked. She stood up, washed her face, then came out.

"Jeez, you look like you got hammered last night." The roommate remarked.

"Yeah, but I didn't drink a thing." Tess collapsed back onto her bed.

"I know. That's why I keep telling you you should get to a doctor."

"I'm going today." Tess said, balancing against the bed frame as she stood back up.

"Great. I don't know what's taken you so long. The student health center is right across the street."

"I'm not going there." A conspiratorial grin spread across her face as she started to pull out clothes from the closet.

* * *

"Whoah, hold on a second!" Tempo broke in.

"What?" Lion glared at him, not happy to be taken from his load of lore.

"I'd say you left out quite a significant portion there." Tempo pointed out.

Lion grinned wickedly at him. "There are some things that are just between a man and his lady."

"Ah, I understand." Tempo nodded, smiling serenely. "Say no more. So you spent an entire year and a half just doing the dirty deed? That has to be a new record."

An irritated growl escaped Lion's throat, though he remained smiling. "If you really want to hear about how I got arrested three times and broke out, ate out of dumpsters for five months, and escaped President Soultech's detection by crawling into his fireplace **while it was lit**, okay. I'm more interested in getting this over with and finding Habeeb, myself."

Tempo wrinkled his nose. "While it was lit?"

"Please, continue." Schala said.

* * *

As Tess walked into the North Lohkiarn Clinic, she scanned for Lion, but saw that he wasn't there yet. As she took a seat next to a decidedly unwashed individual with a beard that contained a large amount of rotting food, she tilted her head back, stared up at the ceiling, and wondered why he was worth all this, for the millionth time. Though their covert relationship had become much easier since she'd gone off to the university, he was still a wanted man. In fact, it seemed as if the police and varied intelligence agencies had made a special effort to keep the search for him intense. There had been approximately 7,000 murders in Lohkiarn since Lion had killed Mattheus, yet only about three hundred still warranted active manhunts. The other 299 had all resulted from murders committed in the last two months, yet Lion was still on the list as well.

Suddenly, she became aware of someone sitting in the seat to her right, where a merciful breeze of fresh air had been coming through until then. However, Tess hadn't seen the person approaching in the corner of her eye. It was as if the figure had just suddenly appeared. As she turned, she saw the person was disguised in a hooded cloak, but long hair managed to spill out the sides. It almost looked familiar... "Jaguarena?" She whispered.

"Shh..." She raised a finger to her lips. "Habeeb doesn't know I'm here. And he definitely doesn't want me to tell you what I'm about to."

"What?" Tess blinked a couple times. "Habeeb has been missing for two years. Where did you-?"

"That's not important now. What is important is that your father will be stopping by here at ten a.m. as part of the 'Restore North Lohkiarn!' project. He'll be speaking on the necessity of further funding for the clinics like this, right in the waiting room."

"Ten a.m.?" Tess glanced at her watch. It read 9:57. "Wait, are you sure..." She trailed off as she looked up again. Jaguarena was gone. She stood up to leave, but realized Lion would be walking in here any time now. Her father would surely have several top Soultech troopers guarding him. There was no damn way that would end well. She'd somehow have to wait here for Lion as long as it took. "Grr... The things I do for you..."

"Are well appreciated, believe me." Lion gave her a hug from behind. "What'd I do now?"

"You'll be arrested if you stay out here another minute." She said, kissing him on the cheek.

"A whole minute? That's more than I usually get."

"Be that as it may, we could use an examination room right away."

"Great. I called ahead."

"Then let's go!" She grabbed his hand, and ran up to the counter. "We have an appointment," she told the lady at the computer.

"For?" She asked.

Lion grinned. "Julian Weezleteets and Gertrude Weatherby."

"Go ahead in." The receptionist said boredly.

"Gertrude Weatherby?" Tess gave Lion the amused-yet-weirded-out look she only gave him. "Julian Weezleteets?"

"Hey, I need a creative outlet."

"Even so, sooner or later they're going to realize that the guy who comes in here every time he gets scraped up running from the cops has used about fifteen different names."

"I think they already know. They just don't care. I'm hardly the only one on the lam who comes here for treatment. Seriously, the other day, this guy came up to the counter, bleeding from his stomach. He said something like, 'Yeah, um, I have a blaster rack in my ship, and it must have, um... accidentally discharged into me after I, uh... robbed the bank... Yeah, that's it. Oh, crap.'"

"He didn't really say that!" Tess laughed.

"Maybe not in those exact words, no. But it was pretty close." They continued down the hall, and found a doctor waiting for them already.

"Back again, eh Lion?" The doctor smiled, then checked his chart. "I mean, 'Julian Weezleteets.'" The doctor frowned for a bit. "Julian Weezleteets? Have you been eating out of the dumpster again?"

"No." Lion laughed. "Well, maybe a little."

Tess gave him another look. "I thought the people whose basement you were camped out in were giving you their leftovers."

"They are. But they threw away some perfectly good seven week old pizza, so I helped myself."

The doctor looked perplexed. "Yet, according to the chart, you're not here for food poisoning."

"This visit isn't for me." Lion smiled. "It's for Miss Weatherby."

"Not your real name either, I take it." The doctor looked her over, but judging from his expression, he didn't recognize her. "Let's just step into Exam Three then." They walked into the cramped, windowless exam room, and Tess hopped up onto the table. "Given that you're both using aliases, I think I can guess why you're here."

Lion's smile disappeared. "Yep. Pregnant, start of the second trimester."

"What's the specific reason you came here today?"

"Unusually intense morning sickness." Lion stated.

Tess smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "I can answer my own questions, thank you."

"Okay, okay." He sat down in one of the hard plastic chairs.

"Okay, um, Gertrude." She and the doctor both snickered. "How would you describe your symptoms?"

"Well, it's not like I have anything to compare it to, but I think puking my guts out every single morning is at least a little unusual?"

"Have you ever vomited blood?" The doctor began writing on the chart.

"Yeah, a couple times." She admitted, wincing.

"Any drinking, smoking, or other drug use?"

"No." She shook her head. "Probably some secondhand smoke from the dorm, but that would be it."

"Ah, dorm food." The doctor smiled, busily writing on the chart. "Well, we'll have to run a test or two to find out exactly what's wrong, but I don't think this is anything too serious." He clicked his pen off, and got up. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He left, and Lion sank down in his chair.

"Have you told your parents anything yet?"

"No." She sighed, her eyes focusing on nothing. "I'm still trying to get them to grasp the concept that the fact that I'm in college means I shouldn't have a curfew anymore."

Lion looked at the floor. "You know... I can't do anything. I'm sorry." They both sighed. "I'm sure my parents would be willing to take care of the baby. But, yours are going to find out eventually."

"I know. Just let me tell them in my own way." She looked up at him again. "Have you seen your parents lately?"

He gave her an almost angry look. "I haven't seen them since the Weapon battle. You know that. Why do you ask?"

"Something very odd happened right before you got here. I ran into someone in the waiting room, and I'd swear it was Jaguarena."

He raised his eyebrows, but that was it. "Well, that's not too surprising. She's come close to tracking me down several times."

"Yeah, but she said something about Habeeb not knowing she was here, and him not wanting her to tell me what she did."

"Which was?"

Suddenly, they heard a commotion in the waiting area. "That my father was coming down here today."

Lion turned a little greener. "Meaning all the top Soultech troopers would be with him."

"Yeah. That's why we needed to get in here. But the weird part was her mentioning Habeeb. He's been missing for over two years. It's assumed that a criminal organization arranged his death."

Lion shook his head. "No. I've seen him in person, a long time ago. **Nothing** could have taken Habeeb down. Not even Taurus, I don't think. Wherever he is, it's of his own volition."

"So you think she's working for Habeeb?"

"I don't know what to think. But as the only prototype of this generation that isn't either dead or barely managing to avoid a life in prison, teaming up with Habeeb would probably be a good move for her." Tess nodded, then started to tip forward, before snapping her head back up. "Whoah, are you okay?" Lion was on his feet.

"I'm feeling kind of dizzy, actually."

"Lie down." He gently helped her to lay back on the exam table. She smiled up at him, and gave his hand a squeeze. Then, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she went limp.

.

"Thank you, everyone. Thank you!" President Soultech waved to the crowd consisting of reporters, PR managers, and perplexed patients as he stepped down from the podium. "I'll be having a press conference on the top floor of city hall after lunch. Thank you!" As the Soultech troopers formed a wall in his wake, he retreated to the exam area. Exactly as planned, the doctor was waiting for him. "Were they right?" He got right to the point.

"Yes, sir." The doctor nodded. "You've got a hell of an intel department, I've gotta say."

"The boy is an idiot." The president growled. "He's been incarcerated three times already, yet he still hasn't fled the city."

"Well, there's a reason." The doctor sighed, but fingered the wad of money in his pocket, and continued. "Your daughter is four months pregnant."

"What?!" A vein began throbbing mightily on the president's forehead. He immediately whipped out a communicator and pressed a red button on it. A second later, the Soultech troops poured into the exam hallway. "Which one?!" The president demanded.

"Whoah, hold on!" The doctor waved his arms. "You've at least got to let the police do this!" Money or no, no one in his right mind wanted to piss of Leopardano. As he surveyed the frowning Soultech troops, the doctor could feel either a big ass lawsuit or his own death coming at him.

Suddenly, Lion flung the door of Exam Three open. "Help, now!" His stomach tightened a bit as he saw President Soultech, but he quickly decided that he didn't care. There was only one thing he cared about. He grabbed the doctor by the sleeve and dragged him into the room.

Inside, Tess was lying perfectly still on the exam table, the blood running out her nose and the blue tinge to her face being the only clue that she wasn't just asleep. "Damn!" The doctor rushed forward, feeling her neck for a pulse. "Brain hemmorhage!" He pressed a button on the wall, and started yelling. "Crash cart in Exam Three, now!! Tell the ER to have a room ready in sixty seconds! Get the neuro department on my comm." He began wheeling the table out of the room. "We're going now! Come on, let's hurry."

Lion helped push the exam table out the door. He wracked his brain, desperately trying to summon up a few of his old healing powers. He had never healed anyone but himself, and he had never used his power on anything in his head, so he had no real idea what to do. But damn it, he was going to try. Even as the Soultech troopers moved to apprehend him at a nod from the president, a yellow glow began emanating from him. His power wouldn't do what he wanted it to, and instantly, his head began to pound. But unlike before, he kept trying. His headache quickly upgraded itself to migraine, and he winced, but still he pressed on. Blood began to trickle from his ears, and he finally opened his mouth to scream in agony as the troopers tackled him and started beating him to a bloody pulp.

He didn't even bother to fight them, but just tried to squirm away. His head felt like it was trying to give birth to another head of even greater size, but still he shouted out. "NO!! Didn't you hear?! It's a brain hemorrhage!! I'm the only one that can save her! Let me go!!" With that, he burst free of the troops, but another one who had just arrived on the scene delivered a kick straight to his head, knocking him into a merciful oblivion.

.

Lion blankly stared through the ER trauma room window, ignoring the blood that was still dripping from the giant bruise on his head. Legally, he was now not supposed to be within one mile of Tess, but the Soultech president had gone to get his wife, the troops accompanying him as always, leaving her alone, for the moment. The cop wearing the other end of the shackle around his left wrist had brought him in on more than one occassion, and the first thing he had done after seeing Lion was congratulate him on his last prison break. The officer didn't seem to have any problems with letting Lion stare blankly.

Lion knew if he forced his eyes to focus, he would see the respirator forcing Tess to breathe. He would see the heart monitor beeping strongly. He wouldn't see her waking up. He wouldn't see her smiling, or giving him the look she only gave him. He likely wouldn't see those things ever again, as she was in a coma, and the prognosis was not good. His first instinct had been to kill them all, president included. But after he had realized that he couldn't, he had given up. The main point of his run from the law had been to see Tess. But he didn't want to see her anymore. Not like this.

"You're just torturing yourself, man." The cop said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Why not just come with me and start planning your next escape?"

"No. I want to hear what the doctor has to say." The officer just nodded in response.

A few minutes later, the Soultech president returned, a weeping woman with graying hair in tow. They didn't seem to notice Lion as they came into the room, standing with their backs turned to him. He made no move as the doctor's voice began to speak, sounding muffled by the glass.

"Well, your daughter is in a deep coma. Unfortunately, there was a large amount of internal bleeding in the brain, caused by either a blood clot, or possibly some other complication of her pregnancy." The parents remained silent, so he continued. "It is quite likely that much of the brain was permanently damaged. It seems unlikely that she will ever recover." Tess' mother sobbed quickly. "Normally, at this point, I'd recommend monitoring her for two weeks, and, if there's no sign of improvement..." He sighed, "pulling the plug. However, there is a complication here."

The president's muscles tensed, and Lion could see the back of his neck turn red. "You want to use our daughter as an... an incubation chamber for the child of that... that thing?!"

The doctor remained calm. "Sir, that 'thing' is also your grandchild."

"I want nothing to do with it." The president growled.

"I'm sure that the father's family would be happy to take care of it. Don't make the child suffer because of the father's choices."

"The father has chosen time and time again to flaunt all rules of decency. He's killed one of my cadets, broken out of jail time and time again, and now-" Here, the president's voice cracked. "He's taken my only daughter from me!! How much more pain and suffering must these prototypes unleash on society before we stop them? How much more death and destruction do we need?!"

The doctor was wide eyed, but he began to speak again. "I recommend that you consider this situation after you've calmed down some-"

"Okay, let's go." Lion said to the cop in an emotionless voice. He turned around and found the officer staring into the room, mouth agape.

"Man! Um, don't you want to talk to him?" The officer finally tore his eyes away.

"No. My child will find a way to survive. After all it is **my** child." Lion smiled, and his eyes took on a slightly insane look, at least from the cop's perspective. He turned from the ER room and walked away, never looking back.

.

The police reports would state that Lion sat in his cell for ten days, staring blankly ahead, never eating, drinking, or sleeping. By all explanations, he should not have been alive when, on the night of the tenth day, he vaporised the outer wall of his cell and escaped, never to officially be seen again.

* * *

"My God." Tempo whispered. Everyone was staring at Lion, completely spellbound. Even Tess.

"I really did want to die then." Lion said, his expression slowly returning to normal from the pained anguish he had displayed for the past half hour. "But, as I was having hallucinations from the lack of water and sleep, something inside of me told me that I still had so much to do. I couldn't die yet, even if my life was miserable. If I just continued living, a solution would surely present itself. So, I used the last of my energy to blast my way out. I ran to the pile of trash where the Ranger was hidden, fired up the engines, and got the hell out of town. I'd never been back, until I met Tempo."

Now, a huge grin beamed from Lion's face as he put his right arm around Tess' shoulders, and smiled down at her. "So, I'm going to assume that since you're just fine, the baby is too."

She returned his smile. "Yes, more or less." Before he could ask what that meant, she continued. "I was in a coma for over two months. My father did relent in the end, after much prodding from my mother. Though the official medical reports state that my recovery is a complete mystery, the rumors flying around state that either your father, Habeeb, or maybe both, are responsible."

"Wow." He continued smiling. "Which one do you believe?"

"Leopardano, of course." Now her smile disappeared. "I have reason to doubt Habeeb's good intentions..."

"What's wrong?"

"There's something I need to show you. But, before I do, promise me, **promise me** that you won't do anything stupid." He pointed at himself with a questioning look. She had to smile at that, but it quickly disappeared. "When I woke up, they told me that you and the Skyshroud Ranger had been destroyed in the most famous police chase in the history of Lohkiarn. They even showed me the footage." She frowned, now wondering what she had really seen. "If something were to happen to you, I don't know what I'd..." She trailed off. He grabbed hold of her shoulders.

"Tess, I promise that as soon as we clear up this whole mess with Habeeb, Moogoo, and the Armageddon alien, nothing will keep us apart ever again."

She laughed to herself for a bit, before looking back up at him. "I figured you'd say... something like that." She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a holoprojector. "You need to see this, though it won't be fun." At that, she flicked it on, and they all turned to watch.

A head covered completely in a tight black mask came into view, underneath a dark hood. Only a combat visor allowed its occupant to see out. "Habeeb..." Lion whispered.

"Yes, it definitely is." Tess nodded. "You were right about him."

The cloth of the mask began to move, and they could hear Habeeb's voice. An odd sound was audible in the background. "Tess, I'm sure that by the time you receive this, Lion will be back in your time. The arrangement I propose is quite simple." Then the image zoomed out, and Lion realized what the odd noise had been.

It was a baby crying. A baby covered with dark green patches of skin on his tiny arms. As the infant squealed on a table behind Habeeb, the masked man made no move to comfort him. "In return for the full cooperation of Lion in the slaying of the Lavoid, your son will be returned unharmed. He was taken from President Soultech's house last night, and rest assured, no matter how much security you arrange, he can be taken again. I do not wish to harm the infant, but if Lion does not come to see me within twenty four hours of seeing this, I will. I imagine Lion will know where to find me. This is Habeeb, signing off." The projector went dark.

Even as Tess turned to see what his reaction was, Lion was on his feet, a yellow glow building up around him. "Lion, no!!"

Tempo stood up too. "She's right, man. We need a plan first. We only beat Moogoo because Raganorn was with us. If Habeeb if even stronger..."

"Oh, I have a plan." Lion growled. He was shaking with rage from head to toe. The infant's cries had reawakened something within him that he hadn't known he still had. "I! Will! Kill! Him!!" With that, he charged toward the balcony, and jumped over the railing.

"But, you can't fly..." Tess protested to the empty air. They all ran to the edge, and saw that while Lion wasn't flying, he was somehow floating down to street level at a reasonable speed.

"If he attempts this by himself, he will die." Silva stated.

"Yeah, you're right." Tempo agreed. "We've gotta follow him." Instantly, they all began running for the elevator... except for Silva. Turning back to her, Tempo saw that she was staring straight ahead, at empty air. "Hey, you all right?"

"Wha?" She asked vacantly.

"Whoah! Tejran to Silva!" He waved a hand in front of her face. "Come on, we've gotta go!"

"Yeah, sorry." She turned to follow him.

"So..." Schala began as they descended in the elevator. "If Moogoo is in this time as well, how are we possibly going to defeat him and Habeeb?"

"We can't." Tempo said simply. "We have to somehow keep Lion alive long enough for him to regain his full power."

"I don't think that's going to happen." Schala said dejectedly. "It's been over two years. I'd think if his powers were going to come back, they would have by now."

Tempo turned back to her, and she could have sworn she saw a green flash in his eyes. "It's been over two years for you too, hasn't it? Have you given up on yourself as well?"

"No. But how did you-?"

"Have a little faith, Schala. Have a little faith."

.

"Now you're making even more weapons for destruction! How much pain and hate do you think we need?!"

"Does that right arm of yours want to kill me now, Ashitaka?"

"If it would end the violence, I'd let it tear you apart. But even that wouldn't stop the killing, would it?"

"No, it wouldn't. It would have to kill all of us to be at peace." - Prince Ashitaka and Lady Eboshi, _Princess Mononoke_

(Nanaki's note: Man. Even though Lion is a character who only exists inside my head, I still can't help but feel incredibly sorry for him, every time I read this chapter. I think the reason that Schala hasn't been as much of a main character in this story as she could be (or maybe SHOULD be) is that what I did to her is way WORSE than what I did to Lion, and I don't want to have to experience that pain too often. Her time is coming though, don't worry. However, Lion's time is coming sooner.)


	42. Ertai's Training: Wearing the Gauntlet

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 42:** **Ertai's Training: Wearing the Gauntlet**

By Nanaki

1826 A.D.

Ertai wearily got out of bed. He really wanted to go back to sleep, but he had developed his "internal clock," as Billy called it, so much that he knew he wouldn't be able to. He slipped on his black and green combat suit, reflecting that it really needed to be washed as he did so. He stepped in front of his mirror, and observed his messed up hair. He ran his hand through it until it was messed up in the fashion he preferred. He walked out of his room and grabbed the hunk of bread that was waiting by his door, biting into it without interest.

His heart rate barely changed as he detected Billy dropping at him from the ceiling. He teleported above and behind his master, then kicked him through the wall and into the battle arena as he continued to munch on his bread. As he polished it off, he broke into a sprint, and arrived at Billy's location in time to knee him in the neck as he was getting up. Billy crashed into the outer wall, leaving a Billy shaped dent in it as he slid back to the floor. From the floor, Billy did several midair somersaults, landing in an offensive crouch. He quickly pulled out his guns, and proceeded to launch into his Nutcracker attack. Ertai caught each of the bullets easily, then tossed them over his shoulder.

Ertai hovered up into the air, then quickly flew backwards as twenty huge bolts of lightning crashed into the arena from above, converging on Billy. He shielded his eyes as the Lightning Four spell detonated, and quickly looked back. As he had expected, Billy was flying at him out of the blast, glowing with Soultech energy. He unleashed a Ten Thousand Point Strike, his fists moving so fast that the blurs became exponential. Ertai fluidly blocked every blow, not showing any signs of strain. As the green glow faded and Billy landed, Ertai hit him with a roundhouse kick to the head that sent him back to the floor. Billy rolled over incredibly fast, his hands flaring with two large chi blasts. Ertai was long gone.

As Billy stood up, he sensed Ertai coming at him from behind, and quickly lashed out with his elbow. He was pleased to feel it connect with ribs. As the rest of him turned around, he saw Ertai rocketing away from him in a series of successfully faster backflips. As Ertai reached the far wall, he bounced off, and flew through the air toward Billy. As he was flying, he realized that even though he had pulled that move off as fast as he could, Billy would still have plenty of time to defend. He teleported directly behind Billy, telekinetically doing a 180 while he was at it. He slammed into Billy's back, then slammed both of them through the outer wall, to the dusty outside.

Billy kneeled on the ground, coughing. Ertai quickly kicked him up into the air, then let flow with some chi blasts of his own. A tremendous midair explosion resulted, and Billy was hurled out of it, trailing smoke as his form plummeted to the ground. This time, Ertai waited for him to get up. Billy shook himself off, then launched himself at Ertai, and into the incredible series of kicks known as Goten. Ertai took the full force of the beating, until Billy got ready to plant the final kick. Ertai blocked it with both arms, grabbed onto Billy's leg, and spun him into the ground. Finally, Ertai was fully awake, and he allowed himself a smile. "Nice try." He said smugly as Billy was getting up. Then, his smile vanished as he cried out, "Goten X!!"

Ertai spun around in midair even as he hurled himself at Billy. He was moving around so fast, in so many different directions, that he wasn't quite sure which way was up. Billy was being snapped around like a rag doll, but Ertai had a sneaking suspicion anyway. As he moved to plant his own final kick, Billy moved to block, as he had anticipated. Before his leg had even stopped moving forward, his sword launcher materialized in his hands, and he had it aimed at Billy's chest. "Say goodbye." He said without any trace of emotion, then pulled the launching rod. The blade passed through Billy's body, but the hilt didn't, and it lifted him into the air, carrying him back to the wall, where the blade imbedded in the building. Billy was pinned like an insect, his blood spurting into the air.

Wearing a grimace so intense, it threatened to shatter his teeth, Billy stretched his hands into the air. From apparently out of nowhere, a soft, white light fell on him, and the sword instantly dislodged itself. Billy fell to the ground, and landed in a kneeling position, his wounds slowly closing up. Ertai calmly walked up to him. "If you're going to surprise attack me, you shouldn't be so lazy about it." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "You might try actually surprising me too."

Billy inhaled deeply, then looked up at him. "I wasn't being lazy. Don't you realize what just happened?"

"You didn't try hard enough." Ertai said, a puzzled expression appearing on his face.

"Well, that's true enough." Billy chuckled a little. "But I was fighting as well as I could."

"No way!" Ertai protested.

"I'm afraid so." Billy nodded, still smiling. "I gave it everything I had, and you still beat the crap out of me."

"Then that means..." Ertai trailed off, because he really had no clear idea of what that meant.

"That means, your time training here is at an end." Billy finally stood up, and smiled. "When you first came here, I told you that a lot of the people Leng sends don't have a maximum. It's my guess that you're one of those people. As long as you continue to fight, you should constantly become stronger."

"So, I should head back to Leng's now?" Ertai asked, incredulous. He hadn't been expecting this at all.

Billy smiled in a conspiratorial manner. "Actually, I believe you would be of much greater assistance if you spent some time in 8,000 B.C. before you returned to Leng's fortress."

Ertai gave him an accusing look. "And what purpose would there be in me going to 8,000 B.C.?"

"Oh, I think you'll see that immediately upon arriving." Billy smiled, but thinly now, Ertai noticed. "Get yourself a pure black combat suit, all the equipment you can handle, and get going through the third gate on the right in the basement. It'll take you exactly where you need to go."

Ertai hadn't let up with the odd look. "This is another test, isn't it?"

Billy's smile vanished. "I wish it was. Trust me, we really need you to do this. You'll see what you need to do right away. Now get going."

"Yes sir!" Ertai saluted, then ran back through the hole in the wall he had punched not five minutes prior.

Billy waited until the sound of Ertai's footsteps could no longer be heard, then he pulled out a small note. He couldn't read it, it was flapping in the wind so much, but he didn't need to. He already knew what it said:

"Seraphina is dead. You know as well as I that this timeline cannot be allowed to exist. In addition to creating the largest paradox this planet has ever seen, it will allow the Lavoid to accomplish all his objectives, which makes a paradox seem like a walk in the park. Reverse this situation. NOW. - Leng"

.

"People say 'die,' but I am not so weak as to want to die." - Tim Rhymeless, _Wild ARMs 2_


	43. One Winged Angels

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 43:** **One Winged Angels**

By Nanaki

Timeless (The night of Lion's reunion with Tess.)

Vigo swirled aimlessly. He would have liked to drum his fingers, but since he didn't currently have any, he settled for a rather lethargic swirl pattern. It was so boring when everyone was asleep. He really would have to learn how to skip through time at will once he hit the thousand mark. Beside him, Gren also swirled in a lazy pattern. Suddenly, his cloud began swirling in an agitated pattern, slight bits of red appearing at the outermost tips of his wispy form.

'Sweet, merciful crap!!' He exclaimed.

'What's up?' Vigo began to swirl faster as well, intrigued by the possibility of something, **anything**, to do.

'I'm getting a message from Hell's forces...' He replied, still obviously receiving whatever the message was.

'Hell? You mean, **the** Hell?'

'Not the DeathScythe.'

'The root of all evil?'

'Yes.'

'The place that's darker than midnight, the home of duplicity and backstabbing, is contacting us directly?'

'That's right.'

'Arthuuuuuur!!' Vigo shouted. The third hero's cloud instantly swirled over at the summons.

'What's going on?'

'This is big, guys.' Gren said, his thoughts trembling. 'This is Rofellos' personal attention big.'

'Too bad he's alive.' Vigo mentally grimaced. 'What do they want?'

'They're issuing a challenge. Oh, I feel sick...' Arthur and Vigo whirled impatiently, waiting for him to continue. 'They're giving us Elly's location, and inviting us to try to come get her.'

'Yeeeeaaaaaahhhh!!' Vigo shouted. 'This is excellent! Those demons have just signed their own death warrant! Let's gather up a whole squadron of heroes, and teach them how painful it is to mess with God's elite!!'

'Here's the bad part.' Gren's voice remained grim. 'We have only thirty more dimensional standard seconds to respond.'

'No time to gather up other heroes...' Arthur observed.

'I don't like leaving Schala unguarded either...' Vigo said in a similarly dejected voice.

'Wait a second...' Gren paused, seeming to receive some new information. 'We'll be born as adults, and have access to Seraph mode.'

The three clouds regarded each other for a moment. 'I don't like it...' Vigo said. 'But this is bigger than Schala, bigger than all of us.'

'We **have** to try, even if we have next to no chance of succeeding.' Arthur said adamantly.

'All right.' Gren's cloud began to swirl very fast. 'Let's do this! Rebirth, now!!'

Vigo blinked rapidly. As his vision cleared, he saw that he was standing on a snowy plain that gently sloped up in front of him. Looking to his right, he saw Gren and Arthur standing there as well, decked out in full battle gear. Vigo squinted back up the slope. "Huh, I don't see any..."

Suddenly, a wide column of fire erupted out of the ground in front of them. The three heroes jumped back, and the blaze abated as quickly as it had started. Where the column had been, a decidedly demonic figure hovered above the ground. His entire body seemed to be decomposing, and rotting strips of flesh hung from his bat-like wings in ragged tatters. Dozens of snake-like appendages protruded from his back, while two long horns jutted up from the top of his head. "Apacco." The three heros spat as one.

"I'm so glad to know I've made a lasting impression on you." The demon's voice sounded like a sword being scraped against dried bones. "You truly must be desperate, responding to what was no more than a bored taunt on my part."

Gren stepped forward threateningly. "She better be here!!"

"Oh, she's here all right." The demon cackled maniacally. The three humans shuddered involuntarily. "If you can actually make it to the top of this slope, she's all yours. Have fun!" With that, the column of fire reappeared, and Apacco vanished. The ground began to tremble, and spit out thousands upon thousands of demons in a matter of seconds.

The three heroes nodded to each other, then crouched down, and shouted, "Seraph mode, **noooooowww**!!" The three were engulfed by a brilliant white light. Three pairs of wings sprouted from each of their backs, and their muscles grew to nearly inhuman proportions. In each hand appeared a gigantic sword, over five feet long. As one, they leapt into the air, and they were over five hundred feet up before they even had to unfold their wings.

"We're in luck!" Vigo shouted. "Magic exists on this world!"

Arthur grinned widely. "Then let's... get... busy!!" He quickly sheathed his swords, and raised his hands above his head. "Holy Three!!"

"Holy Three!!" Vigo and Gren echoed. They brought their hands down, and three beams of pure white light, each over two hundred feet in diameter, slammed down into the field of demons. The resulting blast filled the entire sky, and the crater that appeared after was over a mile wide, and three miles long. Demon bodies rained down on the land. In response, the land coughed up several thousand more.

"Should we try to fly?" Arthur asked.

"No." Vigo frowned. "We can't see them yet, but I'm sure there are just as many winged ones as the ground variety."

"So, we'll charge up San Juan Hill." Gren smiled.

Arthur gave him a skeptical look. "Don't tell me **you** were Roosevelt."

"No, but I was a Rough Rider."

"Can we get going now please?" Vigo asked. The three seraphim dropped back to the ground, swords drawn once more. Arthur was immediately surrounded by white fire, while Gren began chanting an incantation. Vigo crossed his swords, then slammed them apart so fast that the air rippled. "Graaaaaaah... Cosmic Nova!!" The ripple turned into a wave of energy that scythed the first few hundred demons into several pieces each.

"Dragonfire Bomb!!" Arthur shouted, and a burst of explosions cut a swath of destruction through their ranks. As the demons were struggling to regroup, Gren stretched his right arm upward and opened his hand.

"Galaxy Stop!!" The white snow took on a blueish tinge, and all the demons froze in their tracks. The three heroes charged up the hill at several hundred miles an hour. In seconds, the top was in sight. Suddenly, three humanoid figures popped up out of the ground and connected a brutal punch to the face on each seraph. Arthur was immediately back on his feet, and found himself staring into opaque, glowing green eyes.

"Hellspawn!" He exclaimed.

"Hellspawn?!" Vigo demanded, keeping his opponent at sword's length. "I thought Simmons and Llanso killed all the others!"

"You were wrong." The central of the cloaked, chained figures hissed. "Boomerang Flash restored all of us, and destroyed those who were not true to the master's vision."

"And don't give me that look." The Spawn in front of Vigo narrowed its eyes. "We're as human as you are. Moreso, in some cases."

"Yeah, at least we've still got genitals." Arthur's opponent broke in.

"Rotting and shriveled." Gren smirked, wiping his jaw. "I am puzzled by your presence here though. Apacco works for ol' Stanny boy directly. I thought your master was secretly trying to overthrow him."

"I'm not interested in politics." The leader hissed, and his chains branched out in an attack formation. "We're here to fight."

"Then we're happy to oblige." Gren brought his swords forward. He charged at the leader, swinging his right sword in a vicious overhead chop. As he had expected, the lead Spawn blocked with his chains and armored forearms. He jabbed his other sword into the demon lord's side, and as the costumed rotting corpse made a grab for it, delivered another devastating overhead slash, hurling his opponent back, spraying necroplasm all over the snow.

Vigo opened things up with another Cosmic Nova, cutting his opponent to ribbons. He proceeded to slash unrelentigly at the constantly regenerating flesh. Arthur simply held a hand out, and his opponent exploded in a gooey mess. "Wow, you guys are pathetic." Vigo observed.

"Who said we were done?" His own shredded opponent somehow managed to ask. Instantly, all three angels were bombarded with blast after blast of green Hellfire, searing their perfect bodies, scorching the feathers off their wings. As the bombardment ceased, the demons could see that the seraphim had brought their wings around their bodies in a defensive position, and now unfolded them, but not very much. The three warriors of Hell had barely pulled themselves together when a barrage of hundreds of razor sharp feathers shot at them, cutting them to pieces all over again.

The severed head of the lead Spawn blinked in disbelief as Gren walked up to him. "You don't want to destroy us. You know what will happen if you do..."

The three heroes slowly nodded at each other. "Our lady would want it this way." Gren smiled as he brought his foot down on the obscene head, crushing it to mud in the snow. As soon as he did, a green explosion rushed at them, and they knew no more for a time.

As Vigo regained his sight, he realized that he could barely move. The few wings he had remaining hung in bloody tatters. His left arm was missing, and there was a gaping hole in his left leg. Looking to his right, he saw the other seraphim were in a similar state of affairs. But then, his brow furrowed as he heard what sounded like an avalanche rushing at them. There was no way an avalanche could form on a hill as gentle as this though...

They all looked up as a shadow covered the battlefield, and saw a dark wave made out of thousands of minor demons descend upon them. As the swarm slammed into them, they all realized what the true meaning of the Spawn's final message had been.

White explosions instantly pushed the demonic hordes back, but the onslaught would not stop. Fresh troops would charge over the nearly vaporised bodies of their fallen comrades even before the explosions had dissipated. A constant rain of serreted arrows rained down on the angels now as well, striking friend and foe alike. As Vigo felt the last of his wavelength be converted into a weak holy explosion, he reached down and picked up his battered sword with his remaining arm. As he circled around, glaring at the encroaching horde in all directions, he silently crossed himself, then charged into the fray.

.

Apacco smiled, and a green gas escaped from between his few remaining teeth. The bodies of the angels were being passed to the top of the hill hand over hand, until the edge of the hoard tossed them into the snow at his feet. He was delighted to find that all three were still alive, though not for long. "Well gentlemen, I am a man of my word." He wheezed. "So here she is! Now, all you have to do is carry her out of here on your own, and you win!"

Gren turned his creaking neck backward, and through his one remaining eye, saw that the demon actually was telling the truth. "Son of a gun." He whispered. Just a few feet away from him, in a capsule looking much like the one that had contained the original mother, was Elly. "It's good to see you again, my lady."

She was nude, and covered with dirt and grime, but because she was such a valuable prisoner, there wasn't a scratch on her. She was weeping at the sight of their horribly battered bodies, but she couldn't help smiling at the sound of his voice. "Oh, boys... Why did you try to do this all by yourselves?"

"It was the only way." Arthur croaked. "No matter how badly the odds were stacked against us, we had to try."

"Even though you knew you would die?" She whispered.

"No...!" Vigo struggled to rise to a sitting position, but the blood began to pour out of his chest more rapidly, and he collapsed back into the snow. "One cannot participate in a war expecting to be defeated, my lady." She smiled a real smile at him now, and wiped her tears away. "Besides, it was worth it, to see you again..."

"Besides, the dying gets a little easier every time." Gren managed to get out, though blood was flooding his mouth.

"Liar." She sniffed.

"I know what you're doing, Apacco." Vigo pointed up at him. The demon just raised an eyebrow, part of which fell off. "You think you're just tormenting us by allowing us to see her, and die from our wounds."

"But we've been here long enough, that I think an ally of ours has been able to get a lock on your energy signature." Arthur continued.

"Ah, I'd almost forgotten." Gren smiled, and they could tell it was his last smile.

"Rofellos?" Apacco tried to spit, but ended up sounding like he'd coughed up a hairball. "If you think that moron can..." He trailed off as Gren laughed a bit hysterically, and then fell silent.

"Well, no point hanging around here any longer." Vigo said. "Elly, always a pleasure." Then, he grabbed what little remained of his broken sword, and to the astonishment of everyone, stood up. His body was almost pure white now, and blood continued spilling into the snow. He raised his sword hilt, and silently charged Apacco. The demon had raised a hand and was about to vaporise him, but Vigo toppled over before he got there, and didn't move again.

Apacco cracked up laughing, and soon the demon hoard echoed his laughter. He finally turned to Arthur. "So, you want to try anything stupid?"

"Hardly." Arthur smiled wickedly. "I'm not wounded quite as badly as my comrades were, which means I've still got a little chi left in me."

"What?!"

"Kamihameha!!" Arthur raised his working hand up, and blasted the demon into the distance with a pure white blast. He looked up at Elly. "We were definitely here long enough. He's sure to have a lock on you by now."

"You think I care about that?" Her eyes widened. "Don't treat your own life as if it's expendable! Life is the most precious gift in this universe!"

They both turned as a geyser of flame erupted from the spot where Apacco had landed. A rasping shout echoed across the snowy field. "Bastaaaaaaaaaaaaaard!!"

"It is a gift I gladly give to you." Arthur turned back to her. "Our deaths have not been in vain. Believe in us."

"I do. You know I do." She smiled at him.

"Farewell, my lady." He saluted her, then couldn't help screaming as he was engulfed in pure black Hellfire. The screams seemed to take forever to die away, and echoed into the distance even after he'd died. The demon hoard started to charge forward, ready to devour the bodies, but Apacco held up a hand.

"No. Leave them there, as a message to the other heroes." Then, he teleported everything but the seraphic bodies away, and silence reigned over the desolate field.

* * *

Gren: What a sombering experience.

Vigo: How sad that we weren't able to accomplish anything.

Arthur: Agreed. But we had to try.

Gren: ...

Vigo: ...

Arthur: ...

Vigo: Wahahaha!!

Gren: Boo Yah! How the Hell did such an idiot ever reach such a high position in their ranks?!

Arthur: Amen to that! Hee hee... God speed, Krelian. God speed...

.

"Well, how nice of you guys to come all the way out here to meet me like this. Although, I should warn you that anyone approaching carelessly is **gonna die**!!" - Duo Maxwell, _Gundam Wing_

(Nanaki's note: So, here we have the final Crossover Craziness chapter. Though it might seem to have even less to do with the story than the two chapters with the Lavoid Queens, there's a lot of important foreshadowing here once again, and it already has affected the story, at least in one case. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, pay special attention to what Moogoo says to Schala in Chapter 47.)


	44. Seraphina's Mission: The Sword of Fervor

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 44:** **Seraphina's Mission: The Sword of Fervor**

By Nanaki

8,000 B.C.

Seraphina sighed wistfully as the vine lift arrived at the top of the Worldtree, and she got her first view of Canopy Castle at night. The moss coating its walls that had been a brilliant green during the day glowed with a soft bioluminescence at night. It was hard to believe the beauty in front of her had been made with the energy of the Lavoid. She stepped off the gigantic lily pad attached to the huge vine she had ridden up on, and the operator manipulated the directional crystal in the center, sending it back down. She hurried up the ever widening branches, then lightly floated up onto the outer ramparts of the castle.

Stealing one last glance at the brilliant stars above her, she slipped into one of the many ventilation ducts lining the walls, and made her way as quietly as possible toward the inner keep. She had to stop twice as guard patrols passed through hallways directly underneath her. She could hear the dull thumping of their footsteps in the living wood. Every once in a while, she paused to knock her fist against the wood. After what she guessed was over a half hour, the sound changed noticeably, not echoing at all know, and she realized she was in the main keep. She reached into her pack and pulled out the map and a small, glowing crystal. She studied it for a few moments, then put it away. About a hundred feet later, she came to a fork in the duct, and turned left. Another fifty feet later, a branch in the duct opened out into an empty room, and she crawled out. As she surveyed the beautiful structure, full of soft, dark hollows and brilliant green leaves, she realized she was looking at a very fancy locker room.

This was where she wanted to be. It was fairly dark in the back, but toward the front of the room, it was lighter, and she heard a few women still talking and laughing. Great, she was right on schedule. She buried her pack under a pile of dirty laundry, silently wondering if it would create a paradox if she were to indroduce tampons to this time. Then, she hurried to one of the dark hollows in the wood that served as lockers, and rummaged around, looking for a "costume" that would fit her.

She pulled out a top, held it against her chest, and her eyes widened. "I didn't know they even had implants in this time." She remarked to herself as she threw it back. After she had ransacked the back of the room, she realized that the top sizes went down the further right she searched, and focused in that direction. She finally found one that fit her, and growled a little as she realized only one more locker separated it from the wall. She threw off her own clothes, and quickly donned the thin material. After she got it on, she frowned. Even in this low light, she could tell that she might as well not have been wearing anything at all, the material was so transparent. She weighed her options for a moment, then put on a couple more layers of the same fabric. It shouldn't be noticeable enough to give her away. 'What the hell am I doing here?' She wondered for the hundredth time.

She had explored the other cities on the roots and trunk of Fervor's Worldtree thoroughly, but they hadn't given her the vital pieces of information she needed to know. While many of the kingdom's citizens had heard about the temporal project, few of them knew exactly what it entailed. The libraries were similarly useless. The project was too new to have been mentioned in any books. Eventually she had reached the conclusion that the only way to learn what she needed to know would be to approach King Gaudamus directly.

Unfortunately, the line of people waiting to see him was several thousand people long, and the clerk at Canopy Castle had said the soonest she could get in would be a couple months. That would be too late, she knew. But after talking to the people in the castle, she had learned that the king picked a "companion" to take to his quarters every night, and there were no guards in the room during the process.

Now, as the last potential "companion" headed out the door, Seraphina slipped out as well, falling in at the back of the orderly procession. No one seemed to notice. In moments, the throne room opened up in front of her, and she had to gasp at what she saw. The high vaulted ceiling was covered with palm trees, upside down. Birds of paradise were thick on the walls, and even the floor of the room. In an intricately shaped throne of wood darker than the rest, King Laocorn Gaudamus lounged, sipping a drink. The ladies spread out into some kind of formation, and Seraphina did her best to find a spot in it.

Instantly, one toward the front came up to the side of the throne while, the others remained in their places. 'Looks like the election is rigged.' She observed.

"You, look tired, your majesty." The woman, who seemed to be about thirty, said in a sultry voice. "How about we retire to my room so you can recover some energy?"

"No thank you, Arillya." He said simply. "Just the usual conversation will do."

Seraphina was relieved and apprehensive at the same time. On the one hand, she certainly didn't want to shack up with this guy just to get some info out of him. On the other, she didn't see any other way to get what she needed...

The King boredly surveyed the assembly, quite tired of the whole affair. Ever since the three ladies vying for his affection had suggested a ceremony for him to pick his favorite, the whole thing had ballooned out of control. He had been unable to make a decision then, and more showed up every night, until now he had upwards of fifty on a regular basis. Of course, two of the original three were no longer here. While the royal guards were looking into it, as he looked at Arillya, he felt certain he already knew what had happened. He really didn't want to have anything to do with her, but he also didn't want anyone else to share the fate of Arillya's enemies.

As he scrutinized a few individuals toward the back, he spotted a newcomer. She had strawberry blonde hair, and looked very young. Too young, he realized. He frowned, and performed a temporal scan on the room. While the rest of the airheads continued to stand motionless, their expressions unchanging, the young lady in his sights flinched a bit. 'I thought so.' "Arillya, I desire a change of pace tonight. Go stand with the others." The woman's jaw dropped, and it was apparent that while sound was trying to come out, nothing audible could be heard. Slowly, she complied.

"You there!" He pointed at Seraphina, who gulped nervously. "I would like to see you in my chambers, immediately."

"But sire!!" A wall of estrogen smashed into him.

"Just for tonight ladies, I'm sure." He placated them. "You are dismissed."

"Um..." The young woman began. "I didn't mean to... That is, I'm not sure I..."

"I assure you, my intent as not nearly as nefarious as you're assuming." Gaudamus replied. "Please, come into my chambers." He opened a door behind the throne, and gestured for her to follow. Seraphina tentatively stepped after him.

"You're not from this time, are you?"

"What?!" She gasped. "But how..." She slapped herself on the head as she realized how stupid a move that had been.

"No need to be worried." He walked up to a large dresser, and pulled out a bottle of brandy. He poured himself a drink, before continuing. "Your presence here means my project will be successful."

"I'm part of the temporal project?" She was incredulous. "But that just can't be! I'm from over 10,000 years in the future!"

"Believe me, it's quite possible." Gaudamus took a sip. "Though you're younger than I was expecting. Let me get to the point." He took a large swig now. "Do you know Tempestuous and Lionello?"

"No..." She slowly shook her head.

He looked surprised for a second, but then returned to nursing his drink. "You're probably just too young. You **are** the daughter of Gazuga, aren't you?"

"How?!" She demanded simply.

"I know much about this world." Gaudamus smiled. "I'll take that as a yes. So tell me this, do you know any Travelers other than your brothers?"

"Barely. Just before I left, two Travelers named Magus and Ertai arrived at my brother's fortress."

Gaudamus took another large swig. "The timeline has changed more than I thought... But anyway, let me tell you this. I know why you are here. But you did not need to come here to find what you seek. Trust me, you will be far more successful if you return to your brother's fortress. But your window of opportunity is quite small. I suggest you go now."

She eyed him uneasily, but she couldn't have hoped for a more productive talk. "All right, I'll trust you on this. But don't make me regret it!"

"You won't, I assure you." He turned away from her.

.

Seraphina continued to frown as she headed back toward the air duct. There wasn't a more reliable source than Gaudamus in all of the Worldtree, but his knowledge of future events was quite puzzling. It would take an intensely powerful magical artifact to see through the thousands of years necessary to-

She gave a muffled cry as a cloth sack was tossed over her head, and felt herself being hefted up by several people. She immediately tried to blast out of the bag with a fire spell, but as it activated, the fibers of the sack began to glow a bright white, and nothing happened. Subsequent attempts to target just the people carrying the sack produced the same effect. 'Power damping!' She realized. She decided to submit, for now.

Soon she felt the unmistakable sensation of descent, and realized they were moving down a vine lift. This must have been one not intended for public use though, because when they arrived at the bottom, she heard the sloshing of the ocean waters lapping at the Worldtree's roots. She had carefully scouted every vine lift, and none she knew of came this close to the water. She was unceremoniously dumped out of the sack, and even as she warmed up to cast a spell, something was snapped tightly around her neck, and she was unable to access her wavelength. 'A power inhibitor!' She realized. She had seriously underestimated her opposition, but then again, she hadn't expected any, at least, not in the form of "Arillya!" She gasped. "What the hell are you-?!"

"I'm the king's favorite, you little slut!" Seraphina went sprawling as she was dealt a vicious slap that, had she not felt it, she would not have believed the slight woman capable of dealing.

"You don't get it!" Seraphina growled. "You can have your precious king! I just needed some information. I'm done here."

"You sure are." The venomous voice responded. Seraphina felt something being clamped around her ankles. As she finally looked up, she noticed that they were on one of the roots that had been shaped into a dock.

"You've got to be kidding me." She said. But at a gesture from Arillya, two of the thugs behind her hefted her up, and started to carry her toward the water. "You have to be the most insecure bitch I've ever seen."

"Well, I'll be feeling much more secure in just a few minutes." Arillya nodded to her thugs. "I have to avoid being seen, but you stay and make sure she doesn't come back up."

As they neared the edge, Seraphina tried desperately to get a spell, any spell at all, to activate. She could feel the heavy weights pulling at her ankles. But it was no good, and as the water rushed up to meet her, she greeted it with a wide eyed disbelief.

She tried to swim with just her arms, but she watched the surface of the ocean quickly rising away from her, and the salt was stinging her eyes. After about twenty seconds, the reality of her situation began to hit her. She reached down to the shackles around her ankles that connected her to the weights, sure that she could somehow pick the lock. But there was no lock. Her eyes narrowed in further anger as she realized that these had been designed with one purpose in mind only.

As her lungs began to burn, she began to concentrate deeply. All she need was a little wind magic for air. Or even a little water magic... Just a small burst to carry her to the surface. She idly tugged at the power inhibitor as she repeatedly attempted to cast a spell. As she went longer without breathing, it became harder to concentrate, until she was just tugging at the power inhibitor as hard as she could.

It was amazing how hard it was to keep holding her breath. She almost wanted to breathe the water, just so her lungs could go through the motion again, but that wouldn't have done any good. Her tugs at the inhibitor grew weaker and weaker, until her arms hung motionless in the water. Her lungs were on fire now, but she still held her breath, the pressure unbearable. As her vision began to grow dark, her feeling of disbelief began to return. 'No way. It just can't happen like this. No way...'

That was when she felt a strong arm circle her waist, and through what little she could still see, she detected the surface of the water racing at her incredibly fast.

.

"Let us just say that I know a little more about the world than most do..." - Citan Uzuki, _Xenogears_


	45. Seraphina's Mission: Ertai, Wizard Adept

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 45:** **Seraphina's Mission: Ertai, Wizard Adept**

By Nanaki

8,000 B.C.

Ertai quickly grabbed the oxygen filter from his utility belt as he realized he was underwater. 'Thanks for the warning, Billy.' He thought sarcastically. But then, scarcely fifty feet away from him, he saw a figure quickly sinking in the water, large weights attached to it from the ankles. 'I'm gonna guess this is why I'm here.' He thought, then blasted forward. He grabbed the person around the waist, then headed for the surface. As he was traveling, he looked at his passenger. 'Seraphina?' She wasn't moving. Her eyes were half open still, but her body was limp. Ertai blasted into a chi speed boost before he realized how close to the surface he was, and they rocketed about fifty feet into the air before he began to float them back down to the roots.

Seraphina gasped louder than he'd ever heard anyone gasp as they broke the surface. She continued to suck in air as he gently set her down on what appeared to be a dock, the weights clunking noisily. He started to lean down to check on her, but she gasped out, "Guards!"

Ertai swung back up, and intercepted a swinging sword at the hilt. Grabbing the man at the wrist, he brought the forearm down across his knee, snapping it easily. Ertai then kicked him into the water and searched for further opponents. He saw two thugs at the shore running toward the dock, and he rushed to meet them. The one on the left threw a knife at him as he was running. Ertai fluidly caught it and chucked it back at about ten times the speed. The man was thrown back, and lay still. The other guard held his hand forward, and a lightning spell rocketed at Ertai as the guard began to retreat, seeming to have no effect.

Ertai cleared the dock, and began charging along the wooden shoreline. The opposing guard watched with amazement as his legs became a blur, and he charged forward at an unbelievable speed. As Ertai neared the guard, he opened his right hand, and a lightning bolt of his own lanced into the man. As the guard was reeling, Ertai closed the distance and landed a devastating punch to the chest. Before the man's body could even snap back, Ertai brought his wrist in and delivered a shot with his elbow to the same area, then whirled around and kicked the hapless guard in the shoulder. He flew into the water, then his his body surfaced and floated motionlessly.

Ertai turned around calmly, and effortlessly caught a sword that came hurling at him out of the darkness. He let it drop with a clang, then fired off a few chi blasts in the directiion it had come from. As the first one exploded, he saw the guard trying to roll out of the way. He quickly determined where to aim, then finally let his anger show. "Raaaah... Big Bang Attack!!"

If not for Ertai's control, it would have vaporised everything for several miles. Instead, it erased all traces of the guard from existence, and rocketed hundreds of miles into the air. From its light, Ertai caught his first glimpses of the Worldtree, and his eyebrows raised in surprise, before quickly dropping into anger again. "They're all gone." He informed Seraphina, letting some of the anger drip into his voice. The fact that someone had just tried to kill a girl his age, no, even younger than him now, gnawed at him deeply. He still regretted the fact that he had not been able to help Schala and Greven, and the fact that he had managed to save Seraphina did nothing to soothe his anger that he hadn't been around to stop the act in the first place.

Her breathing had finally gone back to almost normal, and she flopped over onto her back, looking at the sky. "What are you so angry about?" She asked him between breaths.

"I just don't like to see women get hurt." Ertai frowned. He walked up beside her, then sat down. The water was quickly beading on the surface of his combat suit and running off, while she remained thoroughly soaked. At a slight gesture from him, a small ball of fire burst into being in midair, and hovered there, warming them up.

"That's a bad idea." Seraphina told him, still not moving. Ertai gestured again, and the fire disappeared. "Well, that too, but that's not what I was talking about. Don't be oversensitive. Women are just as devious, arrogant, and vicious as the men." Now, she smiled. "And even more dangerous."

Ertai just frowned. "Where are we?" He ignored her comment.

"The roots of the Worldtree, in the Kingdom of Fervor." To her surprise, Ertai burst out laughing.

"The Kingdom of Fervor? You've gotta be kidding me! Oh, that is priceless! Hee hee! First Zeal and now Fervor. What was the original on Earth called? Enthusiasm?"

"No, Atlantis." She deadpanned. "Or Lemuria. There were two, actually." He looked at her quizzically, then laughed again. "Sounds like you spent some time at Billy's." She finally raised herself up on her elbows, her breathing back to normal.

"Yes indeed." He nodded. "Although he said only his students call him that..." He looked at her. "You too?"

"Yep." She sat up now. "Though it seems his technique is useless against power inhibitors." She pointed at the black band around her neck.

Ertai fumbled in his utility belt for a minute, then drew out a small blade with a handle custom fit to his hand. "That's what this is for, I bet." He held the blade up, inspecting it. "Molecular steel. It can cut through skin on not much more than touch. Hold still." He slid up next to her and slipped the forefinger of his left hand under the power inhibitor. He was surprised at how warm her skin felt on his hand, given that they had both just been soaked with some decidedly cold seawater.

As he carefully brought the blade up to begin cutting, he found himself paying more attention to the drops of water that were running through the nape of her neck, into- "You've never had a girlfriend, have you?"

Ertai dropped the knife, made a quick grab for it, and opened a gash on his thumb just as quickly. He hurriedly began rummaging for a bandage, then looked up at her. "How could you te- I mean, why do you ask?" He wrapped some gauze around the gash, then slid back to her again, a confident expression on his face.

"You're blushing something fierce." She pointed out. He was examining the power inhibitor up close, but when she said that, he looked up at her. He discovered that he was looking directly into her hazel green eyes, which were less than a foot away. He gulped. She laughed, pushing his head away. "Just cut it already! I won't bite. Not you, anyway." She tilted her head back to give him more room to work, and glared up at the top of the Worldtree.

He had to saw at it for a bit, but the molecular steel had it off in just a few seconds. "Keep your feet still," he said, then began to saw away at the latching mechanisms of the weights around her ankles. "What happened to you?" He finally asked.

"Something incredibly stupid." He raised his eyebrows. "The King's paramour got jealous when he wanted to talk to me in private, and apparently made arrangements for my untimely demise."

He looked angry again. "How stupidly insecure can you get?" The shackles around her legs opened, and she quickly moved her feet away from them.

"Tell me about it." She glowered. "Much as I'd like to go settle this now, I think I need to get back to my brother's place."

"Yeah, I was gonna head to Leng's too, until Billy told me I needed to come here."

"Wait a second, Billy sent you here just to rescue me? Why?"

"Why not?" Ertai looked surprised. "You are the sister of his best friend."

"I'm not that important." She shook her head. "At least, not that I know of." She looked over at him, saw his severe expression, and explained further. "What I mean is, Leng could have sent any of the Soul Knights for this one. Someone with nowhere near your level of power could have pulled this off."

"My level of power?" He was perplexed.

"Billy wouldn't have sent you away unless you were done training." She smiled at him. "Besides, I can feel the chi coming from you, and that alone would put any Soul Knight to shame. Except maybe Raganorn. Anyway, I don't understand why they felt it necessary to use you for this."

"I don't either." Ertai shrugged. "But we can puzzle this over in front of a fireplace at Leng's."

"Yeah, let's get going." She agreed. She started to stand up, but then tipped over and landed back on her butt.

"What's wrong?" Ertai was instantly at her side again.

"Seeing... white spots." She gasped.

"You need to rest a bit longer. Get more air."

She shook her head. "Gotta get to Leng's."

"You just rest up. I don't think the world is going to end just because we took a couple extra minutes to get back to your brother's fortress."

She nodded, and laid back down, but then looked up at him. "Famous last words."

.

"You saw I was a kid and you underestimated me..." - Chang Wufei, _Gundam Wing_

(Nanaki's note: Sharp readers may have noticed that I actually gave Seraphina two additional lines here that weren't present when the chapter was originally written back in 2002. Thus, this chapter contains the first new Tempo Trigger content written since 2005. And since the two chapters I wrote in 2005 don't exist anymore, we can officially bump that back to 2004. More on that later. But fear not, you'll be reading genuinely new chapters here very soon.)


	46. The Lion's Roar

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 46:** **The Lion's Roar**

By Nanaki

3500 A.D.

Lion grimaced as his feet slammed into the ground, but he instantly dropped into a roll which, combined with his power, saved any bones from being broken. He was on his feet again in a second, charging toward the west wall of the city, which was out of sight over ten miles away. However, as his yellow glow concentrated in his legs, he was soon racing through the city at over one hundred miles per hour. He smiled dangerously as the wall came into sight. 'Oh Habeeb, have I got a surprise for you... You're going to regret ever messing with me!' Then, his thoughts drifted back to the wailing infant he'd seen behind Habeeb. 'Hang tough little guy, I'm coming.'

.

Something had been nagging at the back of Tempo's mind on the elevator ride down. Looking up at the digital numbers flashing across the elevator's display, he realized what it was. "Hold on a second!" He cried out as they neared the halfway point of the building.

Tess hit the stop button. "What is it?"

"There's no way we can beat Habeeb and Moogoo if we go at them like this."

"We don't know that Moogoo is there." Silva pointed out.

"Well, to be on the safe side, let's assume that he is." Tempo frowned, then turned to Schala. "When we fought Moogoo before, we saw that he was very powerful, both magically and in hand to hand combat."

"Right..."

"But what happened when Silva got him with that grenade?"

"He didn't see it coming at all." She chimed in.

"Right, it knocked him on his ass. Which leads me to believe we would benefit by stocking up with some long range weapons." He turned to Tess now. "In my time, Soultech troops always carried handguns and electric tasers everywhere, with larger weapons for tough missions. Do you have anything like that here?"

"What are you looking for, precisely?"

He shrugged. "Anything. Bullets, laser blasts, grenades, rockets... Whatever you've got. Some armor would be good too..."

She entered a new floor as their destination, then pressed the stop button again, and the elevator began climbing back up. "I think I know what you have in mind..."

.

Lion charged through the open wasteland outside of the city, oblivious to the blowing dust whipping in his face. His yellow glow continued to increase as he raced over the dunes, until he finally spotted what he was looking for. After he had first fled Lohkiarn, he had found a large grotto of caves underneath the cliffs on one side of a large lake. He cut his speed boost and jumped into the air, eventually floating to the ground in front of one of the cave entrances. He stepped inside as quietly as he could, and forced himself to go slowly, even as the light from the outside diminished behind him, and there was no sign of light within.

A few hundred feet later, he was enveloped in darkness, and wondered if he had been right after all. He was just about to bring his powerful glow back up again, when he spotted a faint light flickering in the distance in front of him. He paused, then frowned as the light continued to draw closer. As it neared, he could see it was actually many torches, and he heard the thud of many feet running. Gritting his teeth, he stepped out into the center of the cave and powered up as much as he dared. As he had suspected, a legion of Soultech troops were running straight at him, decked in heavy combat armor. Every single one of them was capable of taking him out one on one, in his current state. As they drew close enough for him to make out individual faces, Lion just adopted an aggressive fighting stance, and a fierce grin. "Bring it on, you bastards." He said quietly. "No force on Tejran can possibly stop me now."

.

Tempo whistled appreciatively as the fancy ship lifted off the top of the Soultech building. "Man, this thing is deluxe!" He ran his hand over the smooth seats that felt like leather, but were probably something much more rare. "The Skyshroud Ranger is nothing compared to this!"

"The Skyshroud Ranger is a lot faster." Tess said from the pilot's seat. "This one is my dad's, which makes the fact that we'll probably wreck it on this trip even worse." She pointed the nose westward, then accelerated. "Then again, he hasn't spoken to me since I 'dared to have a bastard prototype', so I don't see how it can get much worse."

"What is this material?" Tempo ran his hands over the seat again, appreciatively.

"Komodaera hide." Tess frowned.

Tempo jerked his hands up. "That's sick."

"You're telling me."

.

Lion felt a rib snap as he went hurtling back into the cave wall, rocks raining down around him. As he had suspected, these troops were unarmed, and didn't seem to be trying to kill him. "I don't understand why you're resisting." One of the many troops told him. "We're just here to take you to Habeeb."

"I'll take myself to Habeeb, thank you very much." Lion was instantly on his feet again, fists swinging. His fist glanced off the armor of the soldier he swung at, and the trooper took that opportunity to knee him in the gut, then kick him into the opposite wall of the cave. He groaned and rubbed the new gash on his forehead, then slowly stood up again. 'That's it, you bastards. Just keep sinking in your own ignorance...' He charged forward again, only to be beaten down once more.

.

"Do you know where he's going?" Tempo leaned forward from the back seat.

"Not exactly, but this is my dad's ship. There's a 'synth tracker here." She flicked a switch on the box between her seat and Schala's, and a screen on it came to life. "I always thought he was just being really paranoid, but this is going to come in handy." She studied it for a minute, then it started beeping, and she turned the ship slightly. A red dot was a little way from the shore of a lake. "Great. I know exactly where this is. We'll be there in thirty seconds." She pushed the controls forward. As they rushed through the air, the tracker began beeping more intensely.

"What's that?" Schala's eyebrows rose.

Tess frowned it at. "There are three of them."

"Three 'synths?" Tempo was perplexed.

"Yeah."

.

Lion slammed into the rocks headfirst as the troops grew more impatient with him. "Since it seems your brain is already damaged, I doubt that'll affect you much." The condescing voice of the trooper who'd thrown him could dimly be heard in his ringing ears. Lion started to stand up, but just received a kick in the chest, sending him sprawling into the rocks further down the tunnel. To the amazement of everyone he was on his feet again instantly. He dashed forward, planting his fist in the gut of the guy who'd thrown him. The soldier doubled over in pain, and Lion kicked him in the head, sending him flying back against the rocks, where his head made a sickening sound.

The next trooper behind the victim growled and dealt Lion another kick to the ribs, sending him flying even further down the tunnel. He coughed and turned over in the dirt, trying to rub the dust out of his eyes. As he did, he saw 'A light... Hmph, sure took them long enough.' He was on his feet in an instant, running away from the troops as fast as he could.

"Hey!" The leader cried out. "Get back here!" Lion was running straight into Habeeb's clutches, but he deserved some more pounding first.

"I don't think so!" A voice yelled behind them. Whirling around, the Soultech troops were blinded by four high powered beams of light coming from the helmets of four young individuals. The leader was about to tell them off, when he noticed all the firepower they were packing.

"Get him, now!!" The leader gestured toward the troops closest to where Lion had run. Four of them took off. The others turned to face the new threat. "Drop your weapons, now!!" The leader demanded.

"Everyone got your rubber bullet cartridges in?" Tempo whispered to the ladies. There were nods all around. "All right then, open fire!!" He yelled the last two words. Anything the Soultech troops might have yelled was drowned out by the hail of fire. Schala opened up with her shoulder mounted gatling gun, and the troops that weren't immediately knocked out stayed down anyway. Silva was blasting the side of the tunnel Schala wasn't covering with a machine gun. Tempo was carefully placing shots with a handgun, dropping troops before they realized they were in his line of fire. Tess stayed in back, watching for anyone who looked like they could get away.

Ten seconds later, the only sound to be heard was Schala's gatling gun slowly whirring to a stop. Dust filled the cave, but they could still see close to twenty Soultech troops sprawled on the floor, rubber bullets scattered throughout. "I hope we didn't hurt anyone seriously..." Tempo frowned as he holstered his gun. He could see a lot of angry bruises, but little actual blood.

"Me too." Tess nodded. They stepped over the unconscious men, heading after Lion.

.

Lion blinked several times as he rounded a corner, and found himself in a room lit by many torches. The ceiling was at least fifty feet above him, but there were no stairs or balconies. In the center of the ornately tiled floor stood- "Jaguarena." Lion stated evenly. "What are you doing here?"

"After Habeeb saw how foolish you were being, he thought it best that I talk to you first."

"I see." Lion assumed a fighting stance. Her eyes widened. "Why are you in league with that second rate magician?"

"He has something I value as well." She said tightly. "What are you doing?"

His glow brightened once again. "I'm smashing anyone who gets in my way into the dirt." He glared at her. "Even you, if that's how it has to be. No one will stand between me and my son."

Her own yellow glow instantly burst into being around her, dwarfing his like a small candle in a dark room compared to sunlight. "I can defeat you ten times over, if you insist on fighting me."

He slowly walked closer to her. "Jaguarena, look into my eyes." She gave him a slightly patronizing look. "Really look. What do you see?" Her glaring gaze bored into him for a couple seconds, then she gasped. "That's right. Step aside, and I won't harm you."

Shivering, she warily backed away from him, doing her best to avoid his gaze. "You can beat him." She finally gasped. "Just be sure you're doing the right thing." She warned.

"That's one thing I'm always sure of." He gave her one last look over his shoulder, then continued toward the door at the opposite end of the room.

Suddenly, the thud of many feet could be heard. Turning back, Lion saw four heavily armed troops rushing at him. He began to glow again, until he realized who they were. "I hope you didn't think you were doing this alone." Tempo walked up to him.

"I was counting on that right from the beginning." Lion told him.

"That's good to hear." Tempo headed for the door. "Let's do this thing!"

"Yes, let's." Lion nodded. They walked through the door at the same time, and emerged into a room very different from where they had just been. The walls were composed of large bricks, as if it was part of a castle. Despite the medeival appearance, incandescent bulbs lit the room, hanging from the ceiling. Banks of computers filled the room around the doorway, but a good portion of the floor space was empty. At the far end of the giant hall, for that's what it looked like, was a raised platform, almost like a stage. And on that stage were two infamous and familiar figures. Moogoo... and Habeeb.

"Welcome, my dear Lionello, the original Syn." Habeeb gestured around the hall. "Welcome to my inner sanctum."

.

"It takes a direct threat for people to get off their fat butts and act." - Irving Vold Valeria, _Wild ARMs 2_


	47. Habeeb

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 47:** **Habeeb**

By Nanaki

3500 A.D.

"Where is my son?!" Lion demanded, the calm he had shown seconds ago disappearing in an instant.

"Right here." Habeeb hefted up a baby carrier from where it had been outside of Lion's field of vision on the platform. "And he's all yours, if you accept the deal I have for you."

"Stay here." Lion whispered to the rest, then strode confidently forward. "What 'deal' might that be, 'Synth Drive?"

Habeeb laughed out loud. "You're as smart as I'd hoped! My proposal is quite simple. You help me kill the Lavoid, and your son will stay with you, safe and sound. Any sign of treachery on your part, and I'll immediately take him away again."

Lion gritted his teeth. "I fail to understand why you felt it necessary to kidnap my son," he nodded at the baby, "put my future wife in considerable stress," he nodded back at Tess, "and seriously piss me off for something that I'm planning to do anyway."

Habeeb's mask turned down, giving the impression of frowning. "If that's true, then you obviously haven't thought this through very carefully."

"What are you talking about?" Lion demanded.

"If you realized what was really going on, you'd be at the Lavoid's side in a second, begging to help him out."

Despite his anger, Lion laughed. "You've been smoking a little something, haven't you?"

Habeeb sighed, shaking his head. "At any rate, I consider you an employee, and I want you to succeed. To that end, I offer this." From his robes, he drew a small glass vial containing a glowing green liquid. "Catalyst X-63." He quickly put it away again. "I'm sure you've realized the significance of what you heard from the 'Synth drive by now." He walked to the front of the platform, and jumped down. Above, Moogoo glared silently at the others.

"From the beginning, the 'synths were engineered with a fail safe. If they used up more than ninety percent of the total solar power in their bodies, it would trigger, and prevent them from using their powers any further. First, because it was a possibility that if that didn't happen, the 'synth would use up enough energy to kill himself. Second, it was assumed that if the 'synths ever unleashed that much power, it would be against the armies of humanity, not the Lavoid." Now, Habeeb drew the vial out again, and shook it. "Just a few ounces of X-63 will remove the fail safe." Habeeb stepped forward, until he was just a few feet away from Lion. "Just think, you get your son and all your old powers back, and all you have to do is help me kill the Lavoid. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?"

Lion closed his eyes for a second, smiling serenely, then opened them again, glaring at Habeeb. "You are a fool." He declared simply.

Habeeb sighed. "I didn't think you'd be this stubborn..."

"Oh, I'm not stubborn." Lion growled. Instantly, the yellow glow around him began to build in intensity. While Habeeb's eyes were not visible, Moogoo's were, and they began to widen a bit. "I'm just strong. Strong enough to crush you into a bloody pulp, and take my son back, without agreeing to any little 'deal' of yours."

Habeeb's visor fixed on him in such a way that Lion was sure the man was glaring at him. "And you said I was the fool." He laughed derisively. "You have less than ten percent of your former power. You didn't have enough to take down my troops, much less me."

Lion began to growl. "I'm going to enjoy wiping that smirk off your face... Don't you get it? Ocello was right, you know." Instantly, his yellow glow tripled in size, and became a roaring blaze. Habeeb jumped back. Moogoo's eyes were very wide now. "'Synth powers are infinite! And ten percent of infinity is still infinite!! **AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!**"

As Lion let his anger come to the fore, the floor around him instantly disintegrated. In a few seconds, he was floating above a large crater over fifty feet deep. Habeeb was thrown back into the platform he had come from by the force of the solar energy being released. "This is insane!!" Moogoo shouted.

"This isn't possible!!" Habeeb shouted back, equally panicked. "He let himself be apprehended by the police multiple times! He let himself be beaten to a pulp! He let Tess fall into the coma!!" Habeeb gulped. 'This is by far the most dangerous enemy I've ever faced. I underestimated him horribly...' The energy surrounding Lion rocketed up into the ceiling, smashing most of the lights. Now his glow was the main source of light in the chamber. Finally, he stopped shouting, and brought his gaze back to Habeeb. "Well, if you're going to do it, then do it!" The masked man growled.

"As you command." Lion bowed, then rocketed past him. Before Habeeb or Moogoo realized what was going on, Lion had the baby carrier in his hands, and was already hurtling back toward Tess. He landed in front of her and handed the squirming bundle to her. "Take him and go!" He shouted. Her jaw was hanging open as she stared at him. "Don't worry about me! I'm going to win!"

Tess finally shook herself out of her momentary trance, and grabbed hold of her son. "Yeah, I believe you will." She smiled up at Lion, then ran back through the door.

Lion turned to Tempo. "I'm counting on you guys to take care of Moogoo."

"Glad to." Tempo dropped his rubber bullet cartridge, and replaced it with the real thing. Then he drew out a blaster rifle. Lion nodded, then rushed back toward Habeeb in a blaze of fire.

Habeeb crossed his arms in time to block, but Lion's blow sent him smashing through the supports of his stage. Lion glanced up in time to see Moogoo charging at him, fists glowing. And also in time to see Tempo smash him back into the stage with a body check. Tempo kept his laser rifle trained on Moogoo as he slowly got back up. Lion smiled and went back to pounding Habeeb.

"I think you and I have some unfinished business, Moogoo Guy Pan." Tempo smiled dangerously. Moogoo growled at the bastardization of his name.

"Yes, we certainly do." He responded calmly, then ducked down and aimed a sweeping kick at Tempo's legs. Tempo saw it coming, and tried to jump over it, but was only partially successful. As his feet went flying to the side, Moogoo was already spinning back up, and he yanked Tempo's handgun out of its holster. As Tempo was flying toward the ground, Moogoo planted the gun above his heart and fired three rounds faster than Tempo would have believed possible. He went flying off the platform, arms flailing, then crashed onto the ground.

Moogoo heard a telltale whining, and summoned up a Shield spell just in time to see bullets go flying off in all directions as Schala's gatling gun trained on him. A second later, Silva added her machine gun to the fray, and Moogoo could barely see out of the Shield. Finally, he heard an empty whirring that signaled the ladies were out of bullets. He lowered the shield, hands glowing... and felt a burst of laser energy tear through his heart. Gasping, he turned to find Tempo behind him, the barrel of his blaster rifle glowing. Smiling, Tempo patted three bullet holes in his torso armor. "Kevlar padded armor. Gotta love it." He then kicked Moogoo off of the platform.

Even as a healing light fell on him, Schala pulled out a handgun of her own, and took several clumsy shots in Moogoo's direction. At least one hit him, judging by the way he twitched.

"Moogoo! No!!" Habeeb looked across the room through the eye that wasn't swollen shut, seeing the fate that had befallen his little brother. He growled at Lion's smug face, then resigned himself. "Grr... Diamond Body!!" His whole body instantly turned into a flexible diamond, and he planted a punch in Lion's face that sent him flying across the room. Not wasting a moment, he charged toward the other warriors.

Tempo noticed Habeeb's transformation immediately, and snapped the long metal tube on his back off of its carrying hooks. Looking through the laser guided scope, he aimed at where he guessed Habeeb would be by the time it fired, and pressed the button.

Habeeb was closing in on Silva when a rocket smashed into his left side. While the rocket did little more than scorch his crystal body, it sent him flying toward the other side of the room, where Lion planted a kick in his right side that sent him high into the air. As Tempo was sliding another rocket into his launcher, he noticed Moogoo getting back up, and quickly launched a rocket at him, as well.

Moogoo was hurled into the wall on the right, and Habeeb landed on him a second later. The four warriors came forward in a semi-circle, surveying their downed opponents. "Pathetic." Lion declared. "Even with my power, I expected better out of these two."

"Oh, you'll get better." The crystallized Habeeb growled. He and Moogoo sprang up, and Tempo noticed belatedly that their hands were glowing brightly. He hurried to load another rocket, but before he could, their spell activated. "Double Meteo!!" The brothers roared at their opposition, and dozens of blazing rocks seemed to materialize out of the ceiling.

Tempo found himself watching the scene in slow motion. Above him, brightly glowing death rained down. To the side, he saw Lion struggling to put up a yellow wall of energy in front of the other three, but he could tell the 'Synth wouldn't be fast enough. He growled, but he didn't have any options. His powers hadn't killed him before, and he would just have to hope they wouldn't kill him now. A brilliant green light began to radiate from his body. "Huuuuuh... MegaShield!!"

A transparent green, polygonal structure burst into being around all four of them. It shook and rippled as the dozens of meteors slammed into it, but it held. As the smoke cleared, Moogoo's eyes were wide, and the one eye of Habeeb's that could be seen through his broken visor looked surprised as well. "Damn, he just started to manifest, didn't he?" Moogoo whispered.

"I can't think of what else it would have been." Habeeb nodded. "We have to take him down, right away."

Lion was looking at Tempo with surprise as well. "Man, your speed is excellent! Even I couldn't get a barrier up fast enough."

"I know." Tempo nodded, never taking his eyes off the two brothers. "I saw it. That's why I added my own."

Lion's eyebrows raised even further. "You **saw** it? It only takes about half a second, tops."

Tempo shrugged. "We'll figure that out later. Right now, let's concentrate on these guys."

Habeeb's diamond structure had reverted back to normal, but he now adopted an aggressive stance. "So Tempo, you think you're the only one who can derive Soultech from pure magic?" He growled.

"What?!" All four of them gasped.

Habeeb curved his arms down, until his hands were just inches apart. A howling wind began emanating from his direction, and his eyes rolled back into his head. Finally, all the color drained from the room. Tempo rubbed his eyes, but all he could see was shades of gray. Habeeb began chanting. Even Moogoo backed away from him, looking a little worried. "Neuga zenzokuken tarkana blazaterata!!" Now, his eyes returned to their normal positions, the color returned to the room, and an ethereal purple blaze to rival Lion's blasted up around him. Habeeb fixed his eyes on Tempo. "Force Breaker!!"

He flew at Tempo's MegaShield with blinding speed, smashing through it as if it were made of paper. Hundreds of magical shards went flying in all directions, and Habeeb's fist turned back to diamond as he pulled it back to strike at Tempo.

It had all happened in an instant, and Tempo struggled to get out of the way in time. He whirled to the side to run, even as he saw out of the corner of his eye that Habeeb was just a few feet away from him. But then, his vision blurred for a moment, and when he could see again, he was on the opposite side of the chamber. "What the hell?!" He demanded of himself, and everyone else.

Habeeb's eyes were frozen open in anger and surprise, as he hovered in place, his fist thrust forward where Tempo had just been, not moving. "No!!" He declared, then turned to look at Tempo. "I will not allow you to complete your transformation!!" Then, he was blazing at Tempo again.

Tempo now had time to power up in response though. As brilliant dark green flames of his own leapt up around him, he had time to demand, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Habeeb was just a few yards away from Tempo, when he was slammed into the ground, his face smashing through the bricks of the floor. Before he knew what was happening, he was yanked back up by his right arm, then a kick was planted into his ribs just below, and he couldn't help yelling out as his arm dislocated.

"It seems you've forgotten that your fight is with **me**." Lion growled at him.

"Hey, I have a stake in this now too." Tempo smiled.

"Then let's smash him together." Lion nodded. He turned back to the ladies. "Hold Moogoo off somehow! This won't take very long!!"

Habeeb smiled dangerously as he forced his arm back into place with a popping sound. "I guess now it's your turn to underestimate your adversary!"

"However powerful you might be, I'm quite sure that you don't stand a chance against the two of us." Lion smiled confidently, then blazed forward, his right arm smashing into Habeeb's block with all the power he could muster. The wizard was pushed back several yards, but he remained unharmed... until Tempo landed a knee to the back that sent him flying. Habeeb flipped over in midair, and landed facing his opponents. He raised his hands above his head, then brought them forward, unleashing a beam of chi straight at Lion. Lion laughed derisively and overpowered it with a solar beam of his own, sending a progressively larger explosion right into Habeeb's face. "Enough playing around!" Lion declared. The veins in his neck and forehead instantly began throbbing. "Tempo, keep him busy for a minute!" He shouted as waves of heat began to obscure his form.

Habeeb was just getting to his feet, and Tempo grinned. "As you command. Thousand Point Blast!!" Hundreds of small green fireballs seemed to launch out of his back, then curled around and slammed into Habeeb. Tempo continued to launch dozens out of his hands each second, keeping Habeeb pinned down in a defensive stance. Tempo finally let up his barrage, breathing heavily. Habeeb stood back up.

"Did you really think I could be beaten so easily? You'll have to do a lot better than that to... to..." He trailed off as he turned to look at Lion.

"Believe me, I will." The prototype growled. He held his right arm straight out from his body, tensed to an unbelievable degree. He couldn't be clearly seen through the waves of heat surrounding him. "World Destroyer!!"

"You... can't!!" Habeeb yelled, but the mega-condensed beam of solar energy was rushing right at him. Habeeb threw up a Shield, but it quickly receded when the beam touched it. He was engulfed in an explosion that blew through the wall behind him before quickly blasting upward through hundreds of feet of rock, then on into the sky.

"You did better all right!" Tempo shouted over the noise of Lion's attack. He was surprised when Lion turned to glare at him, looking angry.

"It's not over yet! Help me!!"

Tempo scrutinized the explosion, and sure enough, it was still meeting resistance. Occassionally, when the energy would flow to one side, he could see Habeeb, his Shield just inches away from his face, and still losing ground. "How?!" Tempo demanded. But he quickly charged up his Soultech and fired a brilliant green blast of his own at Habeeb. The sound of the wizard's agonized yell reached him even above the sound of the explosions, and it was obvious that there was nothing Habeeb could do. Tempo let a smile creep back onto his face. Then, he heard a scream.

.

A Minute Prior...

Moogoo's eyes, alight with self-righteousness, borred into Schala. "At last." He hissed. "At last I can kill you, bride of Laria."

Schala matched his cocky gaze, surprising herself. "I don't think so." She growled back. She tensed and crouched down, purple light radiating out from underneath her armor. "If Lion can make his powers return just by willing it, then so can I!!" She tensed further, and a purple flame began hugging her skin. Then, she smiled again. "And even if you do kill me, I won't care. You can't win."

Moogoo let out a barking growl, his voice becoming even deeper. "Would you like to make a wager on that? I guarantee that if you're still alive in thirty seconds, you'll be wishing that wasn't the case."

"You're on." Schala adopted a traditional Alleganian fighting stance. "What's the prize?"

"If you're still alive in thirty seconds from the time I finish talking, I'll put you out of your misery." Moogoo adopted a stance of his own. Schala frowned. She'd seen that fighting style somwhere before, only...

'Just deja vu.' She scolded herself. "Thirty seconds?" She began gathering magic waves for her opening salvo. She heard Silva putting a fresh clip in her machine gun. "You're being too generous. It'll only take me twenty seconds to finish you and Habeeb." Moogoo cracked up laughing, and Schala launched into action. "Golem Breaker!!" The special mixture of lightning and holy magic smashed into and through Moogoo, tunneling through the rock behind him. Not wasting a moment, the mage healed even as he charged toward her. However, he was overconfident. Schala ducked down, grabbed hold of his arms, and planted her feet in his chest, sending him flying through the air.

He used chi to stop and hover in midair, but that turned out to be a mistake as rounds from Silva's machine gun got a bead on him, riddling his body with bloody holes. He dropped back to the ground and charged while healing again. Schala belatedly realized he was heading for Silva, and there wasn't time for her to do anything about it. However, there was time to put his lapse in judgment of who was the more dangerous enemy to good use. Fortunately, Moogoo settled for just knocking Silva out with a quick kick to the head, and whirled back to face Schala. But she wasn't there.

"Behind you, fool!" She shouted as she jammed her worn dagger into the base of his spine. He whirled around again, but poorly, because of the pain of his injury, and she planted a brutal kick in his chest, flinging him back against the wall. The dagger wedged between Moogoo and the wall, driving further into him. Blood began to spatter on the floor. Schala was struggling with her next spell, when suddenly, the words and waves popped into her head. 'I remember!' She laughed aloud before shouting, "Holy!!" The rippling white, blue, and green blast of power erupted out of her torso and slammed into Moogoo's, obscuring his form in a brilliant explosion.

When she could see him again, his robes were badly singed, and his head was hanging limply from his neck. He raggedly pulled his head up, bleary eyed, only to narrow those eyes dangerously a moment later. "It's been thirty seconds." He said calmly, but something about his tone made Schala believe it wasn't just boast anymore. His eyes became even more bleary as he stood back up, oblivious to his injuries. Suddenly, an expression of pure joy was discernable beneath his mask. "Your Heroic shielding is gone!" He exclaimed as if he'd just reported the best news in the world. His voice growled again as he continued. "I can finally put an end to your cursed blood!! This is it!! Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

His right arm jerked out, and the same wavy blue beam of energy that he had used in his fortress in the middle ages surrounded her. This time though, the pain was blinding. It felt as if thousands of hungry jaws were devouring her from the inside out. She gritted her teeth, but it was no good. She began to scream involuntarily, and Moogoo laughed. "I'm willing to bet you care a little now."

.

Tempo turned to find the source of the scream, his blast of power diminishing in intensity. When he realized what was happening, he whirled to charge at Moogoo. "Tempo, no!!" Lion cried desperately. "We can beat him now!! Just a couple more seconds!!"

"I can't let her suffer like that!!" Tempo snarled back, suddenly not caring about Lion's pride very much.

"Tempo, I'm maxed out!!" Lion screamed, his veins throbbing. Even as the pain began to build in his tensed muscles, he kept the World Destroyer flowing. "If we don't finish him now, I don't know if we'll be able to!!"

Tempo paused for a minute, but then Schala's scream reached a new intensity and pitch, and his choice was clear. "Sorry!!" He launched one final blast at Habeeb, then turned and flew toward Moogoo. Lion groaned, then yelled again, and poured yet more of himself into the devastating attack.

.

Schala's vision was growing dark, and the pain was beginning to numb to constant coldness, when there was a shout of anger. Her eyes focused in time to see Tempo smash into Moogoo as hard as he could, plowing both of them into the brick wall. Even as Moogoo lay dazed, Tempo wailed away on his prone form. Schala tried to gather up some power to help him, but she felt as if she'd just woken up from a long sleep. She was groggy, and had a headache. "Why don't you pick on someone who actually stands a chance?" Tempo demanded, continuing to beat the living daylights out of Moogoo. "Your brother would be dead by now if I hadn't rushed off to stop you from torturing someone who was no match for you!!"

"You expect me to show mercy to a Lavoid wench?!" Moogoo demanded, albeit with not very much air. "I'll be happy to crush you into a pulp, but first, there's something I have to do." With that, he blurred into a blaze of speed so fast that Tempo couldn't hold him down. Somehow, Schala sensed him coming, and clumsily lurched to the side.

She wasn't fast enough though. Moogoo slashed at her as she desperately dove for cover. He was traveling at such speed that the worn dagger he had pulled out of his back sliced her right arm clean off. As Moogoo landed and began to turn, Tempo blazed forward to stand between the two of them. Schala calmly stood her ground, waiting for the nooze to put her arm back into place.

The nooze didn't come.

Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what was going on. All the nooze inside her was sitting like a dead weight, not moving at all. She suddenly felt as if she was falling from a great height, and tears of panic began to well up in her eyes. As she gasped in fright, she picked up her arm, and viewed where it had been severed. Some nooze on the surface of the wound was reaching small tendrils a few inches into the air, and she quickly slammed the arm back against her shoulder. The nooze took a tentative hold, and she cast a healing spell to be sure the bones were aligned right. Even after that, she could feel that it was a flimsy hold. It would likely take several hours to be secure. She wasn't invincible anymore. Since she apparently didn't have the power to take Moogoo down, that didn't leave her with much to go on. She became aware that some dirty black tears were streaming down her face, and she was sobbing quietly. She was mad at herself for showing such signs of weakness, but that just made it worse.

Tempo glowered angrily at Moogoo. "It appears that the immense power I'm using really isn't Soultech." He began. "For some reason I'm just immensely gifted, magic-wise. Which means, I have the power to take you down without breaking a sweat."

"Careful." Moogoo wagged a finger at him. "Even magic has its limits."

"Let's find out." Tempo bared his teeth in what was anything but a smile. The green flames around him seemed to blossom in complexity and size even as he charged forward. He whipped out his mace and charged past Moogoo with what seemed to be just a glancing blow, until something clattered to the ground noisily. Both warriors stood in silence as they stared at the Soultech battery stone, where it had slipped through tears in Moogoo's robes. Moogoo dove for it, but Tempo made a jumping charge that brought his foot down on Moogoo's hand. Moogoo howled, giving Tempo the time he needed to change position and kick the wizard back toward Lion and Habeeb.

.

Lion was giving it everything he had, sweat running in small streams down his forehead, into his eyes, but Habeeb's shield was inexorably growing larger again. He was tapped out. Even as he continued to pour out an ever shrinking stream of energy, Habeeb began to walk forward. Lion considered his options, but there was nothing he could do. He didn't have the power left to fight Habeeb in a physical battle. A small surge pushed Habeeb back as Lion squeezed every last drop of power out of his chloroplasts, but it didn't last long. Lion's World Destroyer trickled down to a couple motes of energy in a line, and then, nothing. "Well, that wasn't very smart of you." Habeeb observed. "Now you can't fight anymore." With that, he charged forward and delivered a kick to the chest that sent Lion sprawling. The prototype coughed and turned back over, just in time to see Moogoo crash into Habeeb at high speed, sending them both flying.

Tempo stood there, looking even more pumped up than before, small green crackles of electricity coursing throughout his brilliant green fire. Moogoo and Habeeb both jumped back to their feet, a stream of fireballs flying from their hands. Tempo growled as they simply disappeared into his energy. Nevertheless, the attack seemed to make him even angrier than he already was. "I... have had... **ENOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!**"

At Tempo's exclamation of rage, a brilliant white explosion with green veins burst out from him. Lion braced himself, but as the explosion washed over him, he suddenly found the energy to stand back up. His muscles felt much less strained, and most of the sweat had mysteriously disappeared. As he turned to look at Moogoo and Habeeb, he could see that the spell obviously was not having the same effect on them. Dozens of tiny explosions were bursting all over their bodies, gradually growing in size until chunks of flesh went flying with every blast. As the spell finally dissipated, Lion realized he felt more refreshed now than when the battle had started. He could resume the fight right away, but it looked like there was no need to. Moogoo and Habeeb were gushing blood onto the floor, their masks and most of their clothes riddled with large, oozing holes. A tortured gesture from Habeeb caused a healing light to fall on them, closing the wounds up, but it looked like the fight had finally been taken out of them.

Tempo allowed his fire to die down, not looking tired in the least. The wizard brothers looked at each other.

"Well, we blew it." Moogoo observed.

"Big time." Habeeb nodded, breathing heavily. "Maybe Leng can knock some sense into them."

"Hold on a second." Tempo glared at them. "You guys have some explaining to do, like why-"

"There's no time for that!" Habeeb snapped at him. "The Lavoid will know where we are now. He'll be here in a few seconds, you have to go!"

"What the-" Tempo was cut off as a huge Gate instantly burst into being in the center of the chamber, catching the four Travelers up in it as it swirled around. In a last act of defiance, Tempo stretched his arm to the max, and managed to grab the Soultech battery as he was whipped past it. As he watched Schala disappear into the center of the Gate, he turned back to glare at the wizards. "I'll be back, you bastards!" Then, they were gone.

"Oh, I've no doubt that you will." Habeeb groaned as he surveyed what remained of the now quiet room. Groaning, his bones made several popping sounds as he stood up.

"Damn, we don't have a chance without the stone." Moogoo coughed.

"What kind of talk is that?!" Habeeb whirled on him. "We will destroy the Lavoid and restore our father's honor!!"

"Sure. You mind telling me how we're supposed to do that?" Moogoo laughed, slightly hysterically.

"I don't have the faintest idea." Habeeb's narrowed eyes did not change as cracks suddenly raced all around the chamber from a central point, and compound spikes thrust up through the ground not fifty feet away from them. The five pronged eye pod rotated up into view, the shell not even bothering to surface properly. It whooshed open, and the Lavoid stepped out, unarmed.

"Not even gonna wear your armor, huh?" Moogoo laughed derisively. "Even for you, that's cocky."

"You're pathetic little babies who've just pooped their pants, if you'll excuse the crude analogy." The Lavoid bowed slightly in mock apology. "The only thing I need is some gloves."

"What do you think?" Moogoo finally got to his feet, looking hopefully at Habeeb.

"We've exhausted our wavelengths, we lost the stone, our chi is pathetic because we've had the crap beaten out of us..." Habeeb smiled confidently. "Let's just get him any way we can!! Huaaaaaaaah!!"

"Huaaaaaaaah!!" Moogoo echoed his brother's shout as they flew forward. The Lavoid didn't even bother to assume a fighting stance. He just stood with his arms folded, a smirk on his face. "I don't care how powerful you think you are!!" Moogoo ranted as they closed the distance. "No matter what you try to do, your life ends here and now!! You hear me, Levasos?! You are **dead**!!"

The brothers were greeted with a wave of heat hotter than a nuclear explosion.

.

"Your life ends HERE!" - Magus, to Lavos, _Chrono Trigger_

(Nanaki's note: Wow. Where my chapters usually focus on one character, this chapter was about almost everybody. Plus, now you finally know the Lavoid's name. Why did I wait until this far into the story to reveal it? I really couldn't tell you. I guess I just liked keeping an air of mystery about him. As the story goes on, he's going to get more mysterious, not less, so knowing his name is hardly an insight into his mind.)


	48. The Second Day of Levasos

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 48:** **The Second Day of Levasos**

By Nanaki

1855 A.D.

Ertai glanced warily around as he and Seraphina emerged from their Gate. Even at this time of night, there should have been a guard on duty here. "Something's not right." He whispered. She nodded in agreement. Ertai could feel the bricks of the floor vibrating beneath them. "Shit, I think he's on his way here."

"Got it on the first try." She smiled at him. "Yep, sounds like good old Levy boy is going to pay us a visit. She looked down at herself, then grimaced. "I'm going to go change before he gets here."

"Huh? Why?" Ertai turned around, and his question was answered. "Oh." Even though she was wearing several layers of it, the fabric she had donned to sneak into Gaudamus' little party was pretty much transparent when wet. It hadn't been that noticeable at night under the Worldtree, but in the torch-lit Gate room, it was a different story. "Oh," he repeated, "sorry." He turned away.

"No you're not." She told him as they headed for the door.

He laughed. "No, I'm not." He began to turn to give her a quizzical look, but then caught himself. "You're a telepath?" He asked, while simultaneously throwing up all his mental shields.

"You're a fifteen year old human male. It wasn't that hard to figure out." She smiled. Ertai let his shields drop. "And yes, I am."

He stumbled a bit as they headed down the large halls, and they laughed. "Hoo boy, there's no one else around, is there?" He observed.

"Nope. My brother probably sent them away already." She responded. "Or else... Well, that's the only option I'm prepared to consider." After going up several flights of large stone stairs, they arrived at her room. "Wait out here."

Ertai obediently leaned against the wall by her door, and concentrated on the low rumbling beneath his feet. It hadn't increased since they'd arrived, which suggested the Lavoid was waiting for something, but what? Leng should be his main target, and given what little Billy had told him about Gazuga, Leng would surely have stayed here to fight. Ertai concentrated and reached out, sensing for Leng's chi, now that he knew how. Yes, the magus was still here, but not powered up at all. That was strange as well. He should be maxed out already, waiting to go. Sensing around the rest of the fortress, he detected a few Soul Knights still around, but they were slowly disappearing. There must have been another Gate room he didn't know about, but that stood to reason.

Reaching back toward Leng with his sixth sense, Ertai stumbled across Janus, and whoah! Of course, Magus conveyed an impression of pure power with his constantly severe expression and ever-present scythe, but this was even more than Ertai had expected. Although, he'd been gone for three weeks. Time enough for Magus to learn a few new tricks of his own...

He was aware that he'd been hearing a series of rustling sounds as Seraphina changed her clothes, but now they stopped. "You're thinking about fighting him, aren't you?" Her voice drifted through the door.

"I can't let Janus and Leng do it alone." Ertai called back. "That thing's father slaughtered my entire family. I need to return the favor."

"That's just a superficial reason. I can tell that with your personality, you were actually able to let that go, unlike Magus."

"You're good." Ertai smiled, before continuing. "The truth of it is, my powers scare me. There's no explanation as to why I've become as strong as I am. I can only assume that the reason for them is an equally powerful foe to face."

"You have a strange way of thinking." She responded. "You think your power is a gift from God to allow you to defeat your enemies?" He didn't say anything. "Trust me, the power is yours, and yours alone." The door opened, and she stepped out. She was dressed in a black combat suit similar to Ertai's, with a slightly curved, single-edged sword strapped to her back. "And I also know that you alone can't hope to defeat him."

Now, Ertai grinned dangerously. "I don't need to hope, I know I can."

She fake-smiled at him, before grimacing. "It's good that you're so confident, but don't underestimate your enemy."

"Hey, don't worry. He'll get my best stuff. Now come on, let's go find the magi."

.

Tempo and Lion emerged from the Gate looking ready to pound the crap out of anyone handy, but after no threat showed itself, they turned to check on the ladies. Schala didn't have any visible injuries, but she still looked shaken. "Damn that Moogoo!" Tempo clenched his fists. "What the hell is his deal, anyway?"

Schala looked up at him. "What did you say?"

"Huh?" Tempo's angry expression quickly disappeared at the sound of her voice. "I was just wondering what Moogoo's deal is anyway." She looked thoughtful, though she continued to tremble. "What?"

"Nothing. Just more deja vu." She shook her head.

"Do you have any idea why Moogoo keeps singling you out?" Tempo asked. She looked up at him. "I mean, not to belittle you or anything, but Lion and I should have been his primary targets, not you."

"He seems to think I'm controlled by the Lavoid, or something."

"But that's ridiculous!" He protested. "You told him yourself that you wanted to kill it!"

"It's because of the nooze." She looked down at the ground dejectedly.

"The what?"

"What keeps me alive, or at least a facsimile."

"Okay... Now, the first time we met, he said he felt Lavoid energy coming from it..." As he heard that, Lion frowned, and closed his eyes.

"Yeah..." Schala still didn't want to talk about it, but given how Moogoo's attack had affected her, she felt that she needed to. "It's by the good grace of Lavos that I'm still 'alive'." Tempo frowned, trying to think of what to ask next.

"It's true." Lion confirmed. "It's faint, but I can feel a power coming from her similar to the power emitted by the Weapons under Lavoid control."

"It's faint?" Schala looked directly at Lion.

"Yeah, why? Is that bad?"

"Yeah, real bad." Schala looked at the floor again, biting her lip. She sighed, and began explaining. "I was killed by a human under the complete control of Lavos, in a manner that vaporised most of my internal organs, making any normal kind of spell that would bring the dead back to life useless." Tempo and Lion sat down next to her, looking concerned. She almost smiled. "So my m... this person, used lava to melt a creature called a Nu into a black ooze, and somehow used that to bring me back to life." Tempo and Lion wrinkled their noses. "Yeah, and it's even less fun than it sounds. Furthermore, the substance would wear out over time, requiring a new batch be made every month."

"It's wearing out, then." Lion guessed correctly.

"Yeah." She bit her lip, before continuing. "In the actual time I've been awake, it's only been a couple weeks since my last recharge, but Moogoo's little trick has sucked a lot out of me. Plus, I've been in suspended animation for aeons, and who knows how that's affected it."

Lion looked thoughtful. "My specialty is solar power, not magic, but I believe Soultech in my time has spells advanced enough to regenerate specific internal organs." Schala seemed to mull that over. "Once that was accomplished, a standard regeneration spell should work on you."

Schala almost looked hopeful for a minute, but then she shook her head. "That's no good. I was dead for well over ten minutes before I first got the nooze."

"Huh? Why's that a problem?" Tempo asked.

"The brain starts to take damage after only four and a half minutes without oxygen." Lion explained. "Even if we brought her brain back to life, there's no guarantee that it would work at all. We'd need some complicated neuromancy to fix that, and there are only a couple people in the world with that knowledge."

"Let me guess, all top Soultech troops?" Tempo groaned.

"You got it."

But then, Tempo's expression brightened. "Maybe the Soultech leaders in my time can do it!"

Schala finally stood up. "That's all well and good, but we need to figure out where we are first."

"Habeeb said something about someone knocking some sense into us." Lion stood up too, frowning. Tempo crawled over to check on Silva. "It could be that another ally of theirs is in this place." He went to the door of the small, bare room they had appeared in, and looked up and down the hall. "There's no one else around." He reported.

"There's not a scratch on her." Tempo observed, surprised. "It looks like she's just asleep."

"It must have been that spell of yours." Lion turned back to look at him. "What **was** that, anyway? Spells that heal your allies and harm your enemies at the same time are very difficult to pull off, never mind one as powerful as that was."

"I don't know what I did, exactly." Tempo shrugged. "I just compressed all the energy on my wavelength into one attack."

"Well that doesn't make sense..." Lion frowned. "That should've just made another green explosion. Weird..."

Tempo ignored him for the moment, and shook Silva gently. "Mmm?" She stretched before opening her eyes, and then gasped. "What happened?"

"Relax. Lion and I took care of those two." Silva sat up, fists clenched in her lap, looking angry. "What's wrong?"

She fixed him with a look that said he really should have known what she was talking about. "I'm so powerless! One little kick and I'm floored, while you guys are playing demi-god on the other side of the room..."

"Silva, whoah! We're very special cases! We all know Lion's story, and... there's something weird going on inside of me. I'm not sure what, but I can feel it."

Silva turned to Schala. "And what about you?"

Schala almost laughed a little. "Rest assured, there's an explanation for me, as well. Though if you think I'm in the same league as those two, think again."

Silva looked down at her hands again. "Well, I'm not sure if I should keep traveling with you guys if, if..." She trailed off, a vacant look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Tempo grabbed her hand.

"He's coming..."

"Hey, what's that rumbling?" Schala asked, putting her hand on the floor.

Lion felt a sinking feeling in his gut as he put it together. He reached out, sensing... "Oh, God." He finally said, putting his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "The alien is... here."

"Right here?" Schala whirled at him.

"Yeah." He nodded weakly. "And... He's much more powerful... than I ever imagined."

"You can sense that much?" Tempo was incredulous.

"Well, he's only about five hundred feet beneath us." Lion smiled weakly.

"Okay then." Schala dusted her hands off, and headed for the door. "Right now, we've got two options. We can stay here and die, or we can look for a way out."

"That means we've got no options." Tempo said calmly. "Let's look for another one of those time portals, or at the very least, get the hell away from here."

.

"What's he waiting for anyway?" Ertai wondered as they headed toward Leng's quarters.

"Leng still hasn't powered up..." Seraphina observed. "But he isn't the kind of being that would care about something like that."

Ertai nodded. "Besides, Janus is ready to rock, and he and Leng are in the same place now." He paused for a moment, sensing some more. "He's still not moving at all. He must not be after us or Leng. But then who?" He continued on to a four way junction in the halls, caught something out of the corner of his eye, and- "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Yeah, our friend Lev is powering up. He's getting ready to fight after all." The ground lurched under them, but Ertai ignored it for the moment.

"That's not what I meant. Scan the four humans that just walked by down there." She raised an eyebrow, but did as he asked.

"Their chi is nothing special." She informed him. "Must be Soul Knight stragglers."

"Chi is no real indication of power anyway." Ertai responded, and began jogging down the right fork of the intersection. "This time, I was close enough that I know my eyes aren't playing tricks on me." Seraphina began jogging after him, but she was left in the dust as he suddenly burst into an all out sprint, shouting. "Schaaalaaaaaaaa!!"

.

Schala whirled around as she heard her name being called. "What in the world? Who else knows I'm here?"

"It must be the alien!" Lion shouted. "That lurch we felt must have been him surfacing!"

"It's coming from that way." Tempo pointed at the intersection they had just passed. "Quick! Ladies, get behind us!" Frowning, they complied. Tempo and Lion faced the passageway, grim expressions on their faces. "Can we beat him?" Tempo asked Lion, not moving his line of sight.

"No." Lion frowned. "But if we're careful, we might... live."

They heard the sound again; "Schalaaaaaaa!!"

"Wait a second." Schala put her arm on Tempo's shoulder, pushing past him. "That's no alien. That's..." She began hurrying down the hall. But before she got very far, a charging figure rounded the corner, a huge grin on his highly recognizable face. "Ertai!!" She practically shrieked with joy, hurrying toward him.

"Schala!! I knew you were here! I just knew it!!" They barrelled into each other in what would have been a jarring, bruise inducing crash under normal circumstances. Schala tried to embrace him around the shoulders, but found that he was too tall for that now, and threw her arms around his back. "Oh, thank God you're okay!" He exclaimed as he returned the hug. She kept squeezing him as the others hurried up, wondering what was going on.

"How did you get here?" She demanded, and then, scrutinizing him, "And so old?" She reached up with one hand, tickling the chin where the foundations of a goatee were beginning to appear.

"I'll be glad to answer that." He responded, squeezing her tighter. "But, at the risk of ruining the moment, I must inform you that as a teenage male, if you keep this up, I'll be required to cop a feel." She laughed, and lightly slapped him on the face as she took a step back. "I got a year's worth of training done in three weeks." He told her, smiling. "I'm fifteen now. I came here with Janus to look for you."

"Janus is here too?" He nodded vigorously. "We've got to find him and go before the Lavoid gets here!"

"Whoah, hold on a second!" Tempo exclaimed. "Who exactly are you?" Tempo couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Schala was grinning like a maniac, laughing with joy. It totally contradicted everything he had observed about her so far.

Schala stepped to the side, allowing everyone to get a good look at him. "Everybody, this is Ertai Vecar. If there was any justice in the world, he'd be my brother in law by now." Her grin subsided a bit at that thought.

Ertai frowned a bit at that, but quickly supressed it. Now was definitely not the time. "Looks like you're doing a good job of being a spirit, Schala." He observed. "The Queen, challenging the Lavoid with her small band of loyal knights."

"Queen?" Tempo held up a hand, but the conversation was continuing without him.

"I suppose, but I haven't had a lot of luck yet." She looked at the floor, but kept smiling. "Oh, I just can't believe you're alive!"

Ertai feigned a look of hurt. "My dear Schala, give me more credit than that!"

"I didn't mean it that way!" She laughed. "Lavos destroyed all of Zeal. I just assumed that when he did..."

"I probably would have died then," Ertai admitted, "but I wasn't there! He sucked me away to another time, just like Janus!"

"That's amazing!" She beamed at him. It seemed to Tempo that if they got any happier, they would spontaneously burst into song and dance. "Anyway," she settled down a bit, "this is Tempo, Lion, and Silva." She pointed at each in turn. "I haven't gotten any last names, actually."

"Lionello is the full name, actually." Lion said as he shook Ertai's hand. Seraphina gasped as she heard that, but said nothing yet.

"Yeah, Tempo. Good ta'meetcha." Tempo shook Ertai's hand next. Ertai got a funny look on his face.

"Have we... met before?" He gave Tempo an odd look. That made Schala's grin broaden, though neither had any idea why. "I mean, stupid question, I know. But I'm having a strong bout of deja vu right now."

"Now that you mention it, I am kind of getting a surreal feeling here." Tempo shook his head. "But never mind that. Shouldn't we be hurrying along now?" Suddenly, a huge, shuddering explosion rattled the halls. A few stones dropped down from the ceiling.

"Oh, man, I forgot...!" Ertai trailed off as he hurried to sense what was going on. The color drained from his face as he did so. "No!! Leng is gone! Magus is almost dead! This is horrible!"

"We've gotta go now!!" Seraphina took off sprinting back down the hall, not even waiting to see if he was following.

"Schala, you have to get out of here!" Ertai turned back to her.

"What about you?!" She demanded.

"I'll stay and fight him!"

"But, you can't-"

"Schala, please trust me." He put his hands on her shoulders. "I was hoping we could have a series of wacky adventures and eventually defeat him together, like Crono and Magus did on Elosia. But, it looks like I have to face him here."

"No! You can't sacrifice yourself just to save us! Lion and Tempo are both strong! If we fight alongside you, we..."

Ertai was shaking his head. "Schala, no." Then, he grinned wickedly. "When did I say anything about sacrificing myself? I'm going to kill him."

"Now come on! Do you honestly think..." She trailed off as she saw the look in his eyes.

"Yes, I do honestly think I can beat him. I know you won't believe it, but right now I'm much stronger than all of you put together."

"Wanna bet?" Lion could be heard in the background.

"If Leng's gone and Magus has been defeated, I may just be the strongest human on this planet!" He hugged her again, then stepped away. "Believe in me."

She sighed. "I do believe that if anyone can do it, it's you, but..."

He smiled, and began walking backwards, away from her. "I will see you again. I promise." Then, he took off down the hall in a blur.

"You big dope..." She called after him. "You better not be lying." She whirled to face the others. "Well, what are you waiting for?! Let's get out of here!!" They obediently began running in the direction Ertai had hurriedly pointed.

"How come she gets to be in charge all of a sudden?" Lion grinned to Tempo as they were racing after her.

"I don't know, but I'm not about to argue!"

.

A short time before...

Magus burst into Leng's study, only to find his fellow wizard with his head down in his hands, unmoving. "What the hell are you still doing here?!" Magus demanded. "We have to get ready to fight!"

Leng slowly lifted his head off his desk, and Magus was surprised to see tears in his eyes. "My brothers have fallen. With them, the Lavoid will have gained an intimate knowledge of all my spells and fighting styles. It's pointless for me to fight him." Leng shook his head sadly. He was startled back into alertness when Magus slammed his fists down on the desk with a loud bang.

"I don't care!!" He growled. "He obviously knows we're here, or he would have vaporised the whole base already! You expect me to do all the fighting by myself?!"

"No one says you have to fight." Leng gestured helplessly.

"What am I supposed to do? Just let him kill me or take control of me?!" Magus demanded. Then he saw the look in Leng's eyes. "Oh, shit. You selfish bastard."

"At least I'll be with my family again." Leng put his head back down.

Magus shook his head in frustration, and spat on the desk before turning his back to Leng. "The weak always strive to be weaker..." He then rushed out the door. So he didn't hear the DNA scanner suddenly start beeping wildly, indicating that the person the program was searching for was not only in the same time period, but very near. Leng jerked his head up, just in time to see a compound spike smash through the apparatus, reducing it to various piles of scrap. Many more soon followed.

Leng jumped up, suddenly rediscovering a will he had just tried to convince Magus that he didn't have. "Bring it on, you bastard!! You'll find that I'm much stronger than my brothers!" His angry yell flicked spittle at the Lavoid spines.

'Yes, you might actually last long enough to scream out in pain before dying.' A smug voice entered his head.

Leng's hands began to glow. "Graaah... Magnum Nova!!" A small, metallic-grey ball formed in midair, then exploded into thousands of razor sharp shards, piercing the armored spines with ease. In response, they stopped ascending through the ground, and the tips all began to glow a yellowish orange. "What's the matter?!" Leng yelled to the air, slightly frantically. "Are you too afraid to come out of your shell and face me?!"

'You're not worth the time it would take.' The Lavoid responded calmly. Before Leng could say anything else, at least ten thin fire lasers blasted through his body with ease, purposely not hot enough to cauterize the wounds they made. Blood flew everywhere.

"D-damn it..." Leng hacked up blood as he sank to the floor. The needles quickly began to glow again. "Some day, someone is going to make you pay..."

'I doubt that.' Came the response. 'Now, are you determined to prove me wrong? Aren't you going to scream?'

"As you command." Leng hissed, managing to grin dangerously one last time. He yelled loudly as the fire lasers fired again, but no one would have ever deemed the noise he made a scream. "Damn you!! **DAMN YOU LEEEVAASOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!**"

.

"Strength is the only certainty in this world. The rest is just a delusion for the weak." - Vegeta, _Dragon Ball Z_


	49. Hell Battle 3: Magus Vs Levasos

**Tempo Trigger**

**Hell Battle 3:** **Magus Vs. Levasos**

By Nanaki

1855 A.D.

Magus charged around yet another corner, and froze. The shell was already there. This was nowhere close to where he had estimated Levasos would rise to the surface. He hadn't felt or heard anything that indicated the shell had surfaced at all. But he quickly forgot about that as he realized the Lavoid was already there, standing in front of the eye pod, without his armor on. Magus suddenly felt as if a great weight was pressing on his chest and shoulders, but he shook the feeling off, and began walking slowly forward.

Levasos looked just like he had in Leng's video, except that he was standing perfectly still. Inhumanly still, actually. His chest did not move up and down to indicate breathing. Since he had no nose, that stood to reason. His body did not even vibrate slightly with a heartbeat. There were no little twitches or slight movements that a human trying to stand still would have made. Levasos' eyes might have been following Magus' progress down the hall, but he couldn't tell. The eyes had neither pupils nor irises. They were a solid opaque orange, and did not seem to be moving in the slightest either.

Magus felt uneasy. He had planned to attack on sight, but now he was curious to know why Levasos wasn't moving. The arms were bent slightly forward, as if ready to swing in a fighting position, but they were still as a statue as well. "Ah, my puppet has arrived at last." The mouth moved. So did the rest of him. He stood up straighter and put his hands on his hips. Magus was somehow reassured by the humanity inherent in those actions. The sound of words being produced by air drawn across vocal cords, even Lavoid vocal cords, somehow made him seem less intimidating. That taken care of, Magus was free to consider his words, and he drew his scythe out from under his cloak in response.

"Puppet? You'd do better to think of me as your executioner." Magus held the scythe forward in a battle ready position.

"Of all the ridiculous things to say!" Levasos wagged a finger at him, not seeming angry or aggressive in the least. "Didn't Leng tell you how powerful I am? Do you actually dream that you're a match for me?"

"I do much more than dream." Magus bared his teeth.

"When I'm finished with you, you will." Levasos nodded.

"What are you getting at?" Magus demanded.

"You belong to me, Janus. Just as the rest of your family belonged to my father. I control your destiny." Levasos explained, almost patiently, it seemed.

"No one controls me!" Magus slammed the butt of his scythe on the ground. "I make my own choices!"

"Yes, you make the choices I have laid out for you." Levasos agreed. "But consider this. How many of the major events in your life have you really had control over? How many important choices have you made where choosing differently wouldn't have resulted in disaster?" Magus remained silent. "That's right, none. You are my puppet."

"Is there a point to your blabbering?" Magus finally demanded.

"Your self styled rebellion against your father is at an end." Levasos said simply.

"My father?!" Magus finally laughed derisively. "Are you trying to tell me that I'm a planeswalker, like Lathain?"

"My dear Janus-kun! I'm insulted that you'd think me so unoriginal." Levasos feigned a look of hurt. "But in a certain sense, your guess is accurate. You are a special project of mine."

"You're insane." Magus declared. "I had two human parents. Even the most powerful magic won't allow for a third."

"Are you so sure?" Levasos raised an eyebrow. Until then, Magus hadn't realized that he had any. Chalk up one more human trait for the "alien". "Your mother killed your father only a few months after you were conceived. Hardly rational behavior, wouldn't you agree?"

"And I killed her." Magus hissed. "I'd say it runs in the family."

"No, but it is a tendency of those infused with the power of a Lavoid. They seek to eliminate others of their kind. To be the sole servant of their master."

"You're full of bullshit." Magus declared. Levasos finally looked a bit angry.

"Careful now. You're being awfully rude, while I've been very patient thus far."

"I didn't ask for any favors from you!" Magus ranted. "I know what you're trying to do with your little mind games. But nothing you say will convince me that I'm not in control of my own fate, and nothing you say will convince me that I can't kill you." Magus panted a bit, before continuing. "And quit acting like an innocent victim!"

"You think I'm not a victim?!" Levasos finally raised his voice. "I watched helplessly as you slaughtered all my brothers and sisters! I even watched helplessly as my father sacrificed himself in battle against you in order to save me!!" To Magus' immense surprise, glowing blue tears began to stream from the Lavoid's eyes. "He was so proud of me, you know. So proud that he'd been able to give life to a Keisegn. He believed I would bring glory to the descendents of Laria!" Now, he glared at Magus. "He was right, but he will not be around to see it!" His face scrunched up, almost like a toddler about to launch into a tantrum, and he screamed at Magus. "Don't you understand? You killed the only being that ever loved me!!" He got control of himself, quietly whimpering as he did so. "I would love to take revenge. But since I have so much invested in you, I cannot."

Now, he dried his tears, glaring at Magus. "However, I can beat you to within an inch of your life before you begin your service to me..." He said in a conspiratorial voice.

Magus had been shocked at the diplay of emotion from what he had perceived as an unfeeling monster, but now they were back on common ground. "Just try." He assumed a battle stance.

Levasos held up his hand, and a weapon materialized in it. Carved out of obsidian, it was basically a broadsword, but a scythe-like protrusion came out of the side Levasos held toward Magus. Though the weapon looked fragile, Magus was willing to bet there was more going on here than met the eye. "I'll do more than try." Levasos said dourly, his voice dropping to an inhuman growl at the end. With that, without any preamble or power up, he flew forward.

Magus' eyes had barely registered the movement, when the Lavoid was right in front of him. Not missing a beat, Magus fluidly caught Levasos' scythe between the blade and upper tip of his, trying to twist his opponent's weapon away, but the Lavoid's grip was too strong. Levasos applied new pressure from the top, and Magus was forced to let his scythe be pushed toward the ground. Levasos twirled around with a high attack, but Magus kept up the momentum Levasos had started, and swung up the other end of his scythe to block. As Levasos' swordscythe clanged off to one side, the Lavoid realized the whole scythe was every bit as tough as the blade was. He'd have to keep that in mind.

Not hesitating at all, Levasos kept his fluid attack going, but Magus, spinning on his heels, was managing to block every swing with either the blade or the butt of his scythe. "Hah! Hah! Hah! Tah! Tooryah!!" After a particularly wide swing, Magus swung around faster than Levasos would have believed he could go, and smacked the Lavoid on the back of the head with the end of his scythe. Magus grinned. "You haven't done much ye-" He felt his lower jaw breaking as Levasos landed a direct punch to the left side of his face, throwing him all the way down the hall, to go crashing through the thick brick wall at the end.

As Magus woozily sat up, it felt as if the Lavoid's punch had gone all the way through his head. As he cast a healing spell on himself, he opened and closed his jaw several times, hearing several loud cracking sounds come from it. He achingly stood up, and marveled at the power of that punch. If Leng hadn't taught him how to use chi to increase the toughness of his flesh and bones, that one hit would have killed him. As Magus walked back out the hole his body had made, dark flames, alternating between purple and black, sprang up around him.

"Do you realize yet how futile your battle is?" Levasos asked as Magus marched steadily toward him. "Any human without a little Lavoid in him would have been killed by that punch. Consider yourself fortunate to be a part of me."

"If I do, will the fight be over?" Magus asked quizzically, with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't be an imbecile." Levasos resumed his fighting stance.

Magus just kept smiling. "Then watch this! Hyaaaaaaaaaaah...!!" As Magus yelled, the flames around him grew steadily higher. His hair began to float up around his head, and his body rose up to hover in the air. Rubble rained down from the ceiling as the whole fortress began to shake, and Magus' form was obscured by the dust.

Then, even as his shout could still be heard from the dust, Levasos found Magus' fist planted in his gut, the wind knocked out of him. "Tisk, tisk. Falling for the oldest trick in the book." Magus wagged a finger at him. Levasos tried to reach out and snap the finger off, only to find that he was too stunned to move. Magus' angry expression returned, along with the flames, and he proceeded to wail away. Levasos could not get his bearings. Every time he thought the world had become right side up again, another hit landed on his face or in his stomach, and he was thrown backward yet again. Finally, Magus brought his scythe around, expecting an easy hit, only to find the swordscythe blocking his swing.

Levasos trembled as he stood, orangish bruises covering his blue skin. Yet, he seemed unconcerned by the beating he had just received. "I do not understand. The mere addition of chi to your repertoire of skills should not have increased your power nearly this much, unless..." The conspiratorial gleam returned to his eye. "The rumors about your heroic background are true." He paused, before adding, "Vegeta!"

Magus just raised a narrow eyebrow in response, but a green flash came from his eyes, and a sharp laugh, coming from a voice even more damaged and battle hardened than Magus', rang throughout Levasos' mind for a second. "No, I haven't been eating my vegetables, not that it's any concern of yours!" Magus gave a derisive laugh, then twirled his scythe out of the stalemate. Levasos' reactions were still not up to speed, and he realized that Magus was doing more than backing away much too late. The scythe slammed into his ribs, cleanly slicing through two before grinding to a halt against the others.

As Levasos screamed out in pain, what he was feeling told him that Magus wasn't wielding any ordinary scythe. "Nightmare rock!" He declared as he jumped back.

"You thought I would fight you with just any old weapon?" Magus laughed scornfully. "That's right, when this scythe cuts off your head, it'll take your soul along with it."

Levasos wanted to laugh out loud at the ignorance Magus was displaying, but the mage's stupidity was a tactical advantage, and he intended to capitalize on it. Besides, with the shape he was in, that would hurt. Levasos shook his head to clear it. He had gotten too used to his opponents being powerless against him. He needed to fight with more skill. Though he normally considered it a waste of time, he now took a moment to heal himself. Feeling refreshed, he charged Magus once more.

Again, Magus fluidly blocked every blow, always managing to push the Lavoid's thrusts to the side. Finally, a glancing blow forced his upper body downward, and Levasos found Magus' heavily booted foot smashing into his face before he could recover his balance. He growled as orange blood began to drip into his mouth from where a gash had been opened under his eyes. Using Magus' pause of smugness to his advantage, Levasos swung his swordscythe towards the mage's head with all his might, not caring that he would surely be able to block. Hopefully, the force of his swing would break the other weapon.

The opposite happened. Levasos stared in open mouthed awe as the broken base of his weapon clunked harmlessly against Magus' armor. Dozens of pieces of obsidian clattered to the ground around them. Levasos stepped back, folding his arms. "Well, it appears you've prepared well for this battle. But, I wonder how you would do, against **this** weapon..."

Through all of Levasos' infuriatingly inept-yet insanely powerful attacks, his self righteous speeches, and his unexpected reactions, Magus had forced himself to stay calm. Keeping a cool head and considering all your options was the way to win a battle. Levasos was letting his anger fuel his attacks, lending them more power, but making him clumsy. Given the insane power of everything he had felt, Magus was confident that was the reason he was still alive. If he could just stay in a cool and tactical frame of mind, he should be able to win. But what he saw now made his blood boil.

Levasos was holding the Masamune. The instant after it had materialized in the Lavoid's hand, Magus had a foggy vision of Masa and Mune, hovering in front of him. 'Janus, thank God!' Mune said to him, though it was obvious Levasos could not hear. 'You've got to get us away from this guy!'

'He's way too creepy!' Masa agreed frantically. 'Our power can't do anything against him. We can't break free!'

Their forms blurred for a bit, then returned. 'Be very careful Janus.' Mune advised. 'He knows how to use our sword just as well as Glenn, including the energy absorbing capabilities! Don't let him touch you!' Then, they disappeared.

"Oh, this is great." Magus grumbled to himself, before the true significance of Levasos' new toy hit him. His jaw worked for a few seconds before sound started coming out. "How, how, how?!" He pointed at the Masamune unecessarily. "Schala had that sword when she left Elosia! How did you get it?!"

Levasos laughed scornfully. "How do you think? What's the most likely explanation? Idiot!"

Suddenly, Magus didn't care about winning. He only wanted to do as much damage as he could before he went down. As his anger mounted, his thoughts lost even that degree of coherency. Rage was all that remained. "You're gonna pay." He hissed quietly, then launched himself at Levasos with blinding speed. "**BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!!**"

Levasos was ready this time. He blocked Magus' lightning fast flurry of strikes with just one hand holding the sword, the rest of his body not moving. "All hermaphrodites are bastards." He explained offhand. "It's not an insult."

There was a small flurry of residual magic each time the dreamstone sword and nightmare rock scythe connected, but Magus was unprepared for the large spark that momentarily held them together, tearing the scythe out of his hands. Before he could even see where it went, Levasos' elbow was slamming under his ribs, pounding him through the brick wall of the hallway, to the room on the other side. As he vomited blood, he was unable to get any air. Levasos picked him up by the collar, and threw him back through the wall. The velocity carried him through the bricks on the other side of the hallway, leaving him twitching on the ground. "Augh, aughck!!" He hacked up more blood. He couldn't breathe at all, and he knew Levasos would be back any second. He raised his flow of chi still more, but it was too late for that. There was already internal bleeding.

Suddenly, Levasos was flying above him, Masamune raised over his head. The Lavoid brought it down with a clang, and Magus was surprised to feel first a numbness, then an incapacitating pain as his right arm was severed. Blood literally gushed out of the stump. Levasos raised the sword once more. "Do you begin to understand yet? How utterly stupid it was to challenge me?" The sword headed for his left arm, when suddenly, it stopped in midair. Levasos pitched forward, and the Masamune left a large vertical gash in his forehead.

'Hurry Janus!' Magus dimly heard Mune's voice in the back of his head. 'You have to get up! We won't be able to do that again!'

Somehow, Magus managed to roll to the side, casting the most powerful healing spell he knew as he did so. He felt well enough to get to his feet, but his arm did not magically reattach itself. Oh well, he would have to worry about that later. "I understand that I can't win a physical battle against you." He said calmly. "But there was always a fairly high probability of that. In case you've forgotten, magic is my specialty." He raised his left arm up, hurrying through the necessary gestures. Levasos finally got the Masamune to budge from its position, and hurried to guide it toward Magus' head. However, he was too late. A concentrated Dark Bomb went off right in his face, blasting him through the wall, back to the hall outside.

Magus calmly stepped through the hole he had made on his way in, and coldly gazed down at Levasos, before his face erupted into a mask of rage. "Now take this, YOOUUUUUU!! TRI-TECH FIRE!! **DARK ETERNAL!!**" A Dark Matter erupted right on top of Levasos' downed form, and Magus quickly added the extra spells necessary to turn it into a true monster. The resulting explosion vaporised everything for hundreds of feet around them. As the dust cleared, Magus hunched over, feeling drained.

To his not very great surprise, a clapping sound could be heard in the dust. "Well, your power is impressive." The Lavoid's voice drifted out to him. "In fact, much greater than I expected. I'm pleased." As the dust settled down, Levasos could clearly be seen, not a scratch on him. The Masamune was glowing brightly. "But your skill leaves much to be desired. It takes more than sheer power to win a fight, you know."

"Who said I was done?" Magus demanded as he blasted Levasos with yet another spell. A raging explosion of shadow with veins of ice detonated on top of the Lavoid, and he was blasted into a crater over fifty feet deep.

"Honestly, I don't understand why you normal humans are so stubborn." The ever more infuriating voice came again. But this time, Magus raised his eyebrows in surprise. What did he mean by "normal" humans? Did he think of himself as a type of human too? "Haven't you gotten it through your head that you're no match for me?"

"I haven't exhausted all my options yet." Magus managed a grin. He put his left arm straight out, and his hand perpendicular to the arm. A brilliant glow that alternated between red, white, and yellow began to emanate from his hand. "Now Levasos, if you're really as invincible as you think, just stay right there! Here it comes!" The energy he had been gathering formed into a ball, hovering just inches from his hand. "Big Bang Attack!!" The mega condensed ball of chi launched at Levasos, who continued to walk calmly forward. He was instantly eveloped in a gigantic explosion, which served to widen the already gigantic hole the Dark Eternal detonation had ripped in the fortress. The glow from the blast filled up the entire sky.

Magus' ears were ringing from the noise of the blast, but somehow, he managed to hear, "Pitiful. Just pitiful." As his vision returned to normal, Levasos was walking across empty air, exactly where the ground had been before the explosion. Magus heaved a sigh. He didn't have the energy for disbelief anymore. But he wasn't about to submit either.

"I'm not giving up yet!!" He roared. "You must have a weakness! I will find it!"

"Of course I have a weakness. Several, in fact." Levasos nodded. "Someone with a power to rival mine could easily exploit them. "But you don't even come close." Now, he resumed his fighting stance. Magus groaned in exasperation. "I'm declaring this fight over, right now."

"Like hell you argh!!" Magus uttered the last words he would have air for in a while. Levasos' fist had smashed through his armor, pounding into his stomach. Dropping the Masamune, his other hand plowed into Magus' face, sending the wizard pounding into the dirt. Before he even had time to realize what had happened, Levasos was kicking him in the groin, then the stomach, then the neck. Magus felt himself being picked up, then wailed on mercilessly. He tried desperately to get a spell out, but felt his fingers being broken as he made the gestures necessary to command the shadow energy. Finally, he was slammed into the ground, a heavy kick smashing his ribs a second later. He reflexively tried to scream, but no sound came out.

"Yes, I'd say you're just about ready." Levasos announced calmly. As he walked around to stand at Magus' feet, what was meant to be a sweeping kick connected with his right leg, but it just bounced harmlessly away. "Yes, you are now powerless to resist." Levasos folded his arms and waited, watching Magus' tortured breathing slowly return to some facsimile of normal. He allowed Magus to rise to a kneeling position. "Now show me how you control your own fate, Janus. Show me a choice you have besides joining me or dying."

Suddenly, Magus jumped to his feet, grinning broadly. "There are so many, I don't know where to begin." He declared confidently, as if he wasn't horribly injured. He spread his feet apart, and a force field of chi surrounded him. Little white sparkles of energy began to drift up from everywhere, including from Levasos' own skin. For a moment, the Lavoid thought Magus was trying to cast a Spirit Bomb, but he belatedly realized that Magus was doing something quite different.

"Saishyuu Saiga no Waza!!" Magus declared. "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Instantly, the very life began to drain from Magus' body, the energy transfered to a blazing hot, and even more blazingly powerful explosion that radiated out from the wizard. The color began to drain from Magus' skin, and Levasos watched with surprise as his own skin erupted into boils, then started bleeding, as the explosion neared him.

"No." Levasos wagged a finger, and the energy instantly receded. It was reabsorbed into Magus' body, and the wizard looked astonished. He said nothing as Levasos approached him once more. "You were bluffing. That was the only idea you had, wasn't it?" Magus bowed his head. Levasos was surprised, until out of the corner of his eye, he saw the wizard's scythe rapidly flying toward him. Magus still made no move, and Lavos realized the scythe was perfectly positioned to slice the human's head open. So, as it raced toward Magus, he caught it, then jammed it into the ground. "You would choose death over me? I'm hurt!" He declared, though he didn't look it. "You need to reali-" His eyes bulged in surprise as Magus wrapped the broken, swollen, spasming fingers of his one remaining arm around the scythe, then nimbly twirled around. Levasos brought his shoulder up to protect his neck, and the nightmare rock blade cut deep into it. They glared at each other, both growling.

"As long as there is breath in this body, I will fight you!" Magus snarled, and for the first time, Levasos believed him.

"We'll see about that." He growled dangerously.

Though both already knew what the eventual outcome of the battle would be, the two warriors from Elosia fought on.

.

"The point is, I don't understand him and I don't want to try." - Belthasar, _The Story of Magus_


	50. Self Righteous Suicide

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 50:** **Self Righteous Suicide**

By Nanaki

1855 A.D.

Ertai and Seraphina stopped short as they rounded a corner, and saw the scene of devastation before them. The halls abruptly ended, and before them was nothing but charred dirt for about half a mile. The air was still rippling with heat, signaling that the battle had ended not long ago. "I'm guessing this is the explosion we felt." Seraphina gingerly patted the ragged edge of a wall. It was still hot.

"Man, there's no rubble. It's just... vaporised." Ertai observed. "If Magus did this, he's even more powerful than I thought."

"I suppose you think you're even more powerful than that?" Seraphina raised an eyebrow.

"A hell of a lot more powerful." Ertai grinned. "**Hell** of a lot more powerful." He reiterated, apparently for his own benefit. Then he frowned. "I can't feel Magus' power at all anymore. But, I can't imagine how he managed to last as long as he did. In the best case scenario, Levasos respected him for being such a worthy opponent, and just knocked him out, instead of killing him."

"You don't know Levasos." Seraphina frowned, beginning her journey accross the scorched earth. "But it is unusual for anyone to last longer than a couple seconds against him. Only my father lasted longer, and Levasos sure didn't kill him..." She trailed off.

"What exactly happened to your father anyw-"

"Later." She cut him off. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw that he looked a little miffed, so she elaborated. "I'll explain everything later. Right now, we need to concentrate on the fight." He nodded, and they continued along silently. As they rounded a corner into the most heavily fortified area of the mesas, a bright light could be observed coming from the end. Ertai suddenly stopped in his tracks. Turning around, Seraphina saw that he was shivering. "What's wrong?" He was breathing heavily now, his hands on his knees.

He looked up at her, and his gaze seemed to borr into her eyes. "What... is... that?!" He demanded. The way his eyes were glazed over, she could tell that he was sensing the power of Levasos.

"That's the monster you seem to think you're going to crush so easily." She responded flatly.

"He could be... No, he is stronger than I am." Ertai sighed one more time, then straightened back up. "It feels like a blizzard is doing its best to bury the fire inside of me." He observed.

"And yet, your resolve seems just the same." She gave him a funny look.

"Of course!" He grinned. "He may be stronger than me, but he can't be stronger than both of us!" Then he turned to face her again. "Why? Is your resolve weakening?"

"I never had any." She looked away from him. "I thought that when you sensed his power, you'd want to run."

He looked flabbergasted. "Then why did you come with me, instead of leaving with Schala?"

"I was hoping there'd be a chance to save my brother..." She shook her head. "And, I've spent the past several years of my life trying to convince Leng that I'm strong enough, mentally and physically, to be able to help him out when he needs it."

"But you are!" He assured her, before realizing that a statement that simple probably wasn't going to do it. "Aren't you?"

"I don't know." Her voice quavered. He realized she was supressing tears. She was afraid. He didn't understand. "I mean, it's something I did because the rest of the family was also involved. I wanted to help free our father." Then she turned to look at him again. "But I never planned to have the whole burden placed on me! All my brothers are gone now. Now I have to fight Levasos alone!"

Ertai warily glanced down the hall, but since Levasos hadn't come flying out to attack them already, he probably had as much time as he needed. "I still don't quite understand. If you didn't think you could fight him, why did you stay involved with Leng's-"

"He was my oldest brother!" She gestured helplessly. "I wanted to prove that his baby sister wasn't a complete baby after all. I wanted my brothers' approval, not the fate of the world in my hands!"

Ertai put his hands on her shoulders. "You won't be alone, I promise. I too, once did something foolish, to prove myself to my older brother." Ertai thought back to the time he and Greven had scaled the side of Enhasa, willingly marching into the middle of a devastating battle, just to see what it was like. His life had been changed forever. "I'm not going to kid you. This is probably going to be a life-changing event. For me as well. But we possess the power to stop him, and because of what he is, we have to use it. Are you with me?"

She gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, just don't depend on me too much." They marched down the hall, into the light. Once their eyes adjusted from the relative darkness of the hall, they found themselves in a large chamber, lit by kerosene lanterns. Only the light they were producing was many times brighter than it should have been. Next to a side door of the chamber, they saw two figures, one handing a large sword to the other. "Father!" Seraphina gave a quiet gasp.

Ertai squinted his eyes as they continued forward. The guy with spikes up the wazoo was obviously Levasos, so the masked man must be Gazuga. His face was covered with mask and hood, but a green sensor array was in place of one eye. The other was a striking red shade in the iris. Even as he bowed to accept the sword, he displayed an almost regal arrogant manner. With his head bent low, his back remained perfectly straight. Levasos was saying something. Ertai pricked up his ears. "-no longer of any use to me. Take it back to Aybabtu and instruct your best men to guard it. Neither Schala nor Magus can be allowed to obtain it." Ertai's eyes widened at that. Magus must still be alive! Only, if that was the case, where was he?

Gazuga's head turned to look straight at them. "Master, we have guests." He observed, almost with humor in his voice. But, as he got a closer look at the pair, his eye widened.

Levasos noticed. "Don't worry, I'll do my best not to kill her."

"Huh? Oh, yes, thank you." Gazuga nodded. He'd been having an entirely different train of thought...

"Leave us. I want to deal with this myself." Levasos made a shooing motion with his hand.

"Of course master." Gazuga bowed full out this time, and quickly stepped out the door, gripping the sword tightly.

"You'll need a lot more than yourself to deal with us!" Ertai declared, and not in a bluffing manner, either.

"You are not part of the equation." Levasos told him, as if that was supposed to make perfect sense. However, after observing the looks of puzzlement on the teenagers, he elaborated. "You will prove no great help to me, but also no great hindrance to me. You are insects, and since I'm in a good mood, I won't squash you if you leave now."

"If you're at all sane, I can only assume you're basing your assumptions on my power when I fought Dalton on Elosia. It would be quite wise of you to reevaluate your conclusions." Ertai assumed a fighting stance, and a pure white fire surrounded him. Seraphina backed up a step. "Here, I'll help you out. Go ahead, sense my chi!"

Levasos chuckled. "If you insist, but you're just wasting my time if..." The Lavoid's face instantly lost its amused look. "I do not understand. First Magus and now you? He had increased his power drastically since I last sensed him on Elosia, but that's due to some special enhancements I engineered him with, and also in part because of who his soul is. But you! You are not a hero of the ages. You are a normal human in every way. Yet you are infinitely more powerful than Magus. How?"

"I drink a lot of juice." Ertai's sword launcher materialized in his hands, his smile disappearing as well. "You know, I thought I would be up for this whole pre-battle boasting session and what not, but I was wrong." Levasos gave him a questioning look. "I just feel my anger rising the longer you're in my sight. Your father possessed innocent people, made them do unspeakable acts, killed my entire family, and nearly wiped the human race off the face of Elosia."

"And you're misinterpreting those events to place the blame on me how?" Levasos seemed amused again.

"You plan to do the same thing here, obviously." Ertai tensed.

"What on Earth makes you think that?" He replied with a lighthearted air. "You know far less about me than I know about you. You're just automatically assuming that I'm content to be a grunt worker for the Queens, like my father was."

"Oh, so you're not going to suck the life out of this planet?" Ertai asked sarcastically.

"Not exactly." Levasos smiled a conspiratorial grin. "I plan to make our universe the most dominant of all the billions of universes in existence. I will take us to higher planes of existence. All the suffering the sentient beings of this universe constantly endure will be over!"

"Shut up!" Ertai declared. "I'm not interested in playing your little mind games. I try to look you in the eye, but the only thing I see are the dead faces of my brothers and sisters!" Seraphina stepped back as the flames around him intensified. "Especially Greven..."

"Interesting that you should bring that up..." Levasos began, but Ertai continued his monologue.

"And especially Schala!" He growled dangerously. "You transformed a beautiful, kind young woman who wanted nothing but to live a peaceful life in a virtual paradise into an undead monstrousity!" Ertai stretched his hands to the sky now. "And that, I cannot endure! So die!! Just **DIE!!**" With that final shout, Levasos was lost in a brilliant green explosion that vaporised the roof of the chamber, and most of the wall they were nearest to. Seraphina had to throw up a magical shield as the heat from the blast washed over her. As she studied the blast, she was unable to determine just how Ertai had done it. It looked like a chi explosion, but Ertai's chi had neither risen nor fallen as the blast went off. He clearly hadn't cast a spell, and all powerful mana based magic required quite a bit of charge up time. It was as if the explosion had appeared simply because he willed it to.

As the explosion dissipated, Levasos of course still stood right where he had been standing, but she was glad to see a magical shield humming around him, and he looked like he'd had to strain to get it up in time. "You really do blame me for everything my father did!" The Lavoid sounded surprised. "Why is that?"

"You're a Class B." Ertai explained in a surprisingly genial voice, or at least, she thought so. "Even as a baby, you had the power to stop him."

"Oh, right! And I suppose you regulated all your parents' activities as an infant?" Levasos laughed.

"I cried when they fought. To get them to stop." Ertai nodded.

"Okay, point taken, but it's not a very good one." Levasos folded his arms, then laughed again as a realization hit him. "You were acting! You weren't really that upset after all!"

"Okay, you got me." Ertai held his arms up in an embarassed manner, a goofy expression on his face. Seraphina's jaw dropped. "I always wanted to try a fake out like that." He brought his sword launcher out again. "But I do stand by my arguments. I'm going to kill you here."

"Your motives are very interesting." Levasos observed, sounding impressed. "You truly wish to stop me because you believe it's the right thing to do, not because of some misguided attempt at revenge."

"That's right." Ertai said in a self-righteous voice. "I was deeply hurt by all of your father's atrocities, but I'm not so consumed by guilt and anger that I have to kill someone to make myself feel better."

'What **is** he?' Seraphina wondered. 'A god?'

Levasos laughed with glee. "Ah, you may be the first worthy adversary I've ever faced."

"Oh, I'm more than worthy." Ertai assured him. "You must allow me to convince you."

Levasos brought his arms into place, his hands balled into fists. "Then do so now."

Ertai bowed his head for a second. "As you wish." He fired his sword launcher, and as Levasos zipped to the right, as he had expected, Ertai jetted behind him and slammed a full out kick into the Lavoid's shoulder. He was hurled past the wall that had been vaporised in the initial explosion, to go smashing head first into the nearest undamaged wall, several hundred feet beyond. Ertai landed lightly on his feet. For the first time, Seraphina felt a faint glimmer of hope.

Levasos came blasting back at Ertai so fast he probably hadn't even landed before he turned around. Ertai fluidly stopped his charge with one hand, then, as Levasos hovered there, stunned, kicked the Lavoid in the stomach as hard as he could. Levasos hacked up some orange blood and then collapsed on the ground. "How?!" He demanded. "How did you acquire this power?!"

"It's all about the juice." Ertai said offhand, then kicked the Lavoid in the ribs. He went flying through the air, to crash through one of the undamaged walls in the chamber. A roar came from the Levasos shaped hole, but it quickly turned into a laugh. Levasos flew back into the action, now blazing with the fires of a chi power up himself. His fist slammed into and broke through Ertai's block, and on into his face.

Ertai was momentarily overwhelmed by the enormous increase in power Levasos displayed. The Lavoid landed several huge hits, then backed off, preparing a special attack. He was assuming that Ertai had been momentarily knocked silly, but Ertai was used to being wailed on. The moment Levasos stopped hitting, he started. "Kishin!!" Levasos was driven back into the wall as he strained to get out of the way of Ertai's unstoppable combo. Each punch drove him deeper into the stone, until the final blast sent him crashing through to the other side, and the wall began to collapse under the stress. Ertai took the pause to rest, breathing heavily. "Leng's not going to be happy that you're trashing his fortress." A perfectly calm voice drifted out of the dust.

"What are you talking about?" Ertai demanded of the hole in the wall. "You killed Leng, didn't you?"

"Hardly. He'll be second in command after Magus and Gazuga." An exclamation of disbelief came from Seraphina's direction. "Oh yes!" Levasos replied more enthusiastically. "There are high positions in my ranks for Habeeb and Moogoo as well. After their transformations are complete, they will all serve me just as well as your father has!"

As Ertai was turning to look at Seraphina, Levasos came rushing back into the room, head first. Ertai correctly guessed that the Lavoid was trying for a headbutt, and got his arms up to block in time. However, a warning bell went off in his head as the impact didn't have anywhere near the force he'd expected. He realized too late that Levasos had another target in mind, and he instantly dropped as Levasos delivered a brutal hit to the one area Billy hadn't prepared him for.

Ertai felt as if his testicles had just exploded, and he was unable to concentrate on anything else. "Augh, crap!!" He hissed in pain.

"Your power won't do you any good if you still have highly vulnerable areas." Levasos informed him.

"But, I was... fighting honorably!" Ertai protested, his hands white with pressure on his knees, because he didn't think gripping hard would do anything to help the situation.

"Honor is a completely useless concept." Levasos said scornfully. "I'm not sure how it ever popped up in the first place."

Ertai wasn't paying too much attention now though. "Keeeeeripes, why do my boys have to be so big?" He demanded of his groin. To Seraphina's immense surprise, he and Levasos both proceeded to laugh. "Seriously, until a couple years ago, they were quite manageable."

"Puberty, another human weakness." Levasos said, still sounding amused. "Now, I do believe I've earned my tactical advantage here, so I'm going to exploit it before you recover." Levasos explained calmly, then kicked Ertai hard in the ribs. The human went crashing through one of the two undamaged walls, amazingly not emitting a sound as he went. Levasos burst into flight, and headed for Ertai's landing spot.

Seraphina's kick to the head caught him completely by surprise. He was slammed back into the ground, where he lay dazed. "Well, well, this is a surprise." He analyzed the slight female form that hovered over him with amusement. "After the pathetic attempts of your brothers, I certainly didn't expect you to be able to harm me in the least."

"Seraphina, get down!!" Ertai's voice yelled from wherever he was. She flew off to the side, and Levasos sprang to his feet. "Big Bang Attack!!" Levasos whirled to the side, expecting to be able to dodge it easily, but somehow, the chi bomb covered the distance faster than should have been physically possible. Seraphina hurried to throw up a chi barrier, but found one of Ertai's design already surrounding her. The gigantic explosion knocked down all the walls, blasting them outwards even as they were vaporised, and turned the floor into a crater. Ertai flew back into the action, and very, very gingerly, landed on the edge.

As he had anticipated, Levasos came rocketing out of the explosion even before it was over, but looking noticeably singed. Without a word, he began swinging his fists at Ertai, and the teen responded in kind. Though Ertai carefully flew throughout the exchange, preventing his lower body from experiencing any undue stress. Just as Levasos landed a good hit to Ertai's face, the gigantic lightning explosion known as Luminaire went off right in his. He was hurled back, giving Ertai the key seconds he needed. He stretched both hands to the sky, a pleased grin lighting up his face. "Ultimaaaaaaaaa!!" Levasos held up his hands in defense as the intense lightning and shadow spell engulfed him.

Finally, after the sound of the explosion had died away, everything was quiet. A few stones could be heard dropping from what remained of the walls. Ertai was breathing heavily, and Seraphina was staring at him in amazement. Levasos, of course, was still there, but he was kneeling now, bleeding from many places. He and Ertai both cast healing spells at exactly the same time. Ertai finally stood up straight, very grateful to have that pain gone. Levasos stood now too, looking up at Ertai with surprise. "I must say, you've improved drastically since the last time we fought, brother!"

Ertai rolled his eyes. "Now what are you talking about? If you're going to try to mess with my head, you might try something a little more believable."

"Precisely." Levasos smiled dangerously. "Which should lead you to conclude that I'm telling the truth. You saw the skeleton, didn't you?"

Ertai nodded slowly. "Yes, of course I did. What does that have to do with you?"

"Then your question is answered. It was **just** the skeleton and the armor, right?"

"Well, duh! Of course, all the flesh and organs got burned away." Ertai narrowed his eyes, not caring to have that memory dredged up.

"Did they now?" Levasos raised an eyebrow. "Or might they have been simply absorbed?" Ertai narrowed his eyes still further. "It was remarkably clean for someone who'd been burned to death, wouldn't you say?"

"Again, yes, but I assume the spell that killed him vaporised-"

"Then it would have vaporised the bones too, no?" Levasos grinned. "Blood, flesh, muscles, organs, and the much touted human nervous system. All of Greven's were absorbed by my father and given directly to me." Ertai didn't make any movement. "You see, we Lavoids are born without humanoid bodies, or our bio armor. At birth, we really are just a shell, and the framework for a brain." Ertai still didn't move. "My father saw into the future, and knew that he would have to die to save me. He also knew that Schala would follow me into space, to try to kill me. Thus, it was decided that Greven's vital systems, with such an intimate knowledge of my future enemy, would be the perfect basis for my body."

"Nice story." Ertai said tightly. "But I'm not buying it."

"Oh no?" Levasos asked genially. "Who but Greven would remember the time you got lost in Kajar when you were three years old, and you got so scared by the time I found you that you'd pooped your pants?" Ertai gulped. "Who but Greven would know that Schala likes to have her left ear nibbled ever so gently?" Ertai's face turned red with anger, and something else.

"Even if you have his memories, you are not my brother!" He announced. "And they certainly won't stop me from killing you!"

"You can try all you like, but you won't get anywhere. I know all of your moves."

"You know **nothing**." Ertai growled in the most serious tone of voice he'd emitted yet. With that, he launched himself at Levasos.

"Well, seems it's time I powered up." Levasos observed calmly. He tensed up, and instantly, a blazing fire of cascading colors surrounded him. A display of orange, red, and purple rippled around him, and a howling wind instantly began emanating from him. Ertai was hurled away before he managed to stop himself, hovering in the air. Now, Levasos stretched his right arm upward. "You must allow me to convince you, Ertai!" Ertai coughed roughly a couple times, then turned back to his foe. "Golem Breaker!!"

Schala's trademark beam of lightning and holy energy rushed from the Lavoid's hand. Ertai cast a magical shield in front of him, and cried out in pain as the spell blasted right through it, carving a gaping hole in his chest. Blood ran freely from his mouth, and he fell back to the ground. He was dimly aware of Seraphina charging into action, keeping Levasos distracted. He spit out more blood, trying to get the coppery taste out of his mouth, but it wouldn't go away. As he struggled to concentrate, he muttered thanks that the attack had not touched his heart. He'd be dead now otherwise. Finally, he got the healing spell out, and stood back up.

Just in time to see Seraphina slam into him, sending them flying through the air in a jumbled heap. However, Ertai was somewhat prepared this time. He used to his chi to slowly reduce their speed until they were hovering again. By that point, Levasos was almost a mile away. They had a moment. "Thanks." She rubbed a large bruise on her cheek.

"No problem. What say we take him together?" Ertai got back in his offensive stance.

"Sounds like a plan." She mirrored his movements, and they both jetted forward at lightning speed. Ertai was momentarily thrown out of his rhythm as he coughed again, but he sped back up by the time they were in striking distance of Levasos. As they both curved around to hit him from opposite sides, he suddenly blurred to Ertai's right and landed another kick to the ribs. Ertai went flying into Seraphina, but she managed to twist around as he hit her, so she ended up launching off of Ertai's back, straight at the Lavoid. An actual smile of approval appeared on his lips right before her foot smashed into his face, sending him reeling backward. As he lost his balance, his own foot came flying up, sending Seraphina crashing to the side. He backflipped, and landed lightly on his feet, just in time to see Ertai's knee slamming under his ribs. He skidded back several yards before he managed to stop, and he hunched over, the wind knocked out of him.

That didn't make sense, Ertai belatedly realized as Levasos lurched back up, the back of his head smashing into Ertai's chin. Ertai staggered back, feeling blood running down into his collar. Blood was visible on a few of the spikes of Levasos' head. Ertai felt blood in his mouth again, and was just about to get nailed by a quick hit from the Lavoid, when Seraphina flew into his legs, knocking him down. Both humans immediately jumped on him. Levasos nailed Ertai with a sweeping kick, but found his sternum cracking under the toe of Seraphina's boot. He somehow whirled back to a standing position on his left foot, kicking her away, but Ertai's foot immediately smashed into his ankle, sending the Lavoid crashing back to the floor. The two both whirled to face each other, hands glowing. Seraphina bounded back into the action at the same time. "Flames of Chaos!"

"Kamihameha!!"

"Cosmic Nova!!"

The resulting explosion looked something like three frozen waves bursting into flame, and threw all of them several hundred feet backward. As the dust cleared, the three warriors all found themselves breathing heavily, glancing back and forth between the other two. "Enough of this." Levasos declared.

Ertai laughed. "I know you're used to being omnipotent compared to your opponents, but even so-" Ertai suddenly made a choking sound as Levasos' right hand clobbered him in the back of the neck, dropping him instantly. As she felt the chi backwash from a truly masterful speed boost, Seraphina realized her sword had vanished from the hand she had drawn it with to cast the Cosmic Nova. She blasted toward Ertai, but she could tell it was too late. Ertai flipped onto his front, getting his hands under him so he could push back to a standing position. Levasos struck with her sword, perfectly accurate. The sword sliced throough Ertai ribs and heart, and jabbed on into the ground. Before he even had time to register the pain, Levasos grabbed Ertai's head, and using the sword as leverage, twisted it back until his neck snapped. Levasos dusted his hands off, and turned to Seraphina, his back to Ertai's corpse.

"When you try to battle by the rules, the first one to break them wins." Levasos informed her, looking perfectly calm.

"Then why are you standing here instead of my father?" Seraphina managed to smile dangerously, though she certainly didn't feel it. 'There's no way I can beat him by myself.' She began to step away from him. 'Leng, Habeeb, Moogoo, somebody!' She called out desperately, but there was no response. 'Even father. If you'd just come to your senses...'

But suddenly, as her gaze was fixed on Levasos, she detected movement behind him. As she struggled to keep her eyes from widening, she saw Ertai's right arm slowly curling down and around to his back, shaking badly the whole time. How could he still be alive with a non-functioning heart, a snapped neck, and a pool of blood around him large enough to need a lifeguard? Well, however he was doing it, she had to buy him some time. She held her right arm out, and her sword jerked out of him, then flew to her hand. Levasos raised a spikey eyebrow. "I told your father I wouldn't kill you. Don't make it turn out that I lied to him."

She sneered at him. "Well, thanks to your nifty little mind control, he won't care either way."

Levasos laughed. "My, both of you have made some large assumptions. Gazuga isn't under my control."

"Enough of your mind games!" She snarled. "Let's just get this over with!"

"Oh, I will." Levasos brought his arms forward. "But I'm not lying. Your father is serving me willingly."

"Oooooh!!" She gave an exasperated cry, then fixed her eyes on the blood still dripping from her sword. "Coros guraja aoros!" She swung the sword in a broad arc, and many droplets of blood were hurled through the air. However, instead of gradually falling to the ground, they sped up as they went. As they slammed into Levasos, they erupted into progressively larger explosions, pushing him back more and more, until the final blast sent him flying through the air, digging a trench in the dirt as he landed.

"**Very** nice!" He smiled enthusiastically as he stood back up. "Very few humans on this planet know about blood magic. I don't understand how you've gotten to be so much stronger than your brothers."

"I don't either." She gritted her teeth.

"Then you're still playing by the rules, Levasos." They both whirled as Ertai's voice reached them. They had both assumed he'd found a way to heal himself, but no, the pool of blood around him was now larger than Seraphina would have believed possible. "There's something you forgot to take into account." Ertai's right hand managed to reach into his combat belt, and he weakly drew out a small vial of liquid. He smashed it on the ground, and was obscured by a cloud of green vapor. As it cleared, his form could be seen standing up. "I have a **lot** of elixirs."

"How are you still alive?!" Levasos demanded

"You're asking a lot of questions you should know the answers to if you plan on winning this fight." Ertai said smugly. Then, his calm face erupted into rage. "I don't like one hit kills! I'm going to make you pay!! HyaaaaaaaaaaAAAH!!" Pure white chi-fire erupted around Ertai, veins of lightning magic coursing through it. "So, Grevasos, if you're really as invincible as you want me to believe you are, just stay right there!!" Ertai held his arms perpendicular to his body, and the ground began to shake.

"If all you're going to do is imitate Magus' soul, you won't get very far." Levasos informed him.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but if you think chi is all I'm cooking up here, you're gravely mistaken." Ertai grinned broadly.

Seraphina regarded him for a moment. His eyes had become opaque as he powered up, and were now a solid yellow. Small bolts of electricity curved through his hair, and even his teeth. His hair was spiking straight up as a result. As he continued to gather energy, he looked even less human than Levasos. "This isn't right." She whispered. "This isn't the kind of battle he was meant to fight."

"Now you've both lost me." Levasos said from where she thought he'd been far out of earshot. He crossed his arms. "People with great power are meant to fight any way they can, and win any way they can. If you get all caught up in your weird ideals, you'll lose for sure." Suddenly, the floor lurched violently, before settling back to a steady rumbling much greater than before.

"Better make your peace now, Lavoid!" Ertai shouted at him. "Your time is almost up!" Now, Ertai raised his arms slightly, so they were in a Y shape.

"I am growing tired of your petty attacks!" Levasos shouted back. "This will be your final flash!"

Ertai grinned again. "Not quite, but you're getting warm. Hyah!!" Yellow bolts of lightning began to appear from out of nowhere, and strike his body. His form began to be obscured by the intense energy surrounding him. Suddenly, Ertai felt as if a telepathic voice was entering his head, but it had no source that he could determine. It almost sounded like a radio transmission from far away, full of static and garbled.

'You... oing... o destr... the whole pla... eeet!! Fatheeeeeee... eeeeeer!! You've... ot to stop it!!'

'...unks, ...et's gooooooo!!'

"I'm in control." Ertai replied to the voice, then at the same time the message in his head culminated in 'Final Flaaaaaash!!', Ertai unleashed his attack.

"Goodbye Levasos!! Spirit Flaaaaaaash!! Aaaauuuuuuuggggggghhhhhh!!" Ertai brought his wrists together, and instantly, a beam of chi easily ten times the size of his body erupted from them, and only increased in size from there. Inside the yellow blast, hundreds of condensed balls of spirit energy danced steadily toward the Lavoid. Levasos brought his arms into a fighting position, but otherwise made no move.

The world turned completely blue as the blast connected with him, before the light from the explosion drowned out all other sights. Ertai threw up shields around himself and Seraphina before they were both lost in the expanding explosion that seemed to take a surprisingly long time. When they could see again, a brilliant yellow light was still rocketing away into the sky. Where Levasos had stood, there was now just a gaping pit they couldn't see the bottom of. A smile lit up Seraphina's face, and she rushed toward Ertai. "Oh, that was amazing!!"

"Quiet!" He hissed, a severe expression on his face. "Can't you feel his chi?" Seraphina stopped in her tracks as she sensed.

"How?" She demanded. "Won't this ever be over? Is he really unbeatable?"

"Hardly." A smile broke out over Ertai's face. "That was just a test to see if my final attack will wor-hurck!" Ertai coughed deeply again, and when he pulled his hand away, spots of blood were plainly visible.

"What's wrong?" Seraphina hurried toward him again. "Didn't the elixir work?"

"No, that's not it." Ertai croaked out tightly as he sank to his knees. He pressed his arms to his stomach. "I'm not feeling so good."

"You're probably tapped out." Seraphina put a hand on his shoulder.

"Not even close." He managed to grin up at her.

"Yes, I suppose it was a bit unsporting of me not to warn you." Levasos' voice reached them. They both snapped their heads around to the source of the sound, and found his head hovering above the pit. Blood was running freely from his scorched neck, but that didn't seem to bother him. Just then, his head seemed to phase out of reality for an instant, and when it returned, it had dragged his vaporised body along with it somehow. "The Lavoid immune system is truly impressive, you know. It can completely eliminate diseases that are quite deadly to humans." Levasos dusted his hands off, and floated back down to the ground. "You're going about this all wrong, you know." Ertai was overtaken with another fit of coughing, but when he was done, he looked up smugly.

"Of course I know. That blast was just a test to see if I was right about something."

"What would that be?"

"This." Ertai smiled. Instantly, Levasos' torso vanished and reappeared about twenty feet away from his legs, both halves spurting blood. The Lavoid screamed with pain before both halves phased out, then reappeared whole again. Levasos actually looked worried now. "I don't like one hit kills, but I owe you one. Besides, you need to be stopped, no matter what." With that, Ertai closed his eyes in concentration.

A moment later, the top half of Levasos' head was floating several feet above the rest of him. The Lavoid's eyes rolled up into their sockets, and his body slumped to the ground. The two halves of the brain floated up to hover in midair, and Ertai continued his telepathic carving. First, the brain was divided into fourths, then eighths, then sixteenths, thirty seconds, sixty fourths, smaller and smaller. A full minute later, when he was done, a light pink dust fluttered to the ground. Ertai slumped over, coughing up more blood. "Do you know... Esuna?" He croaked out.

"No." She shook her head sadly. "Is that really it? Is he really dead?"

He was shivering violently now, but he managed to smile up at her. "Of course, though I'm not particularly proud of the victory." She put her hand on his forehead, and found that he was burning up.

"Come on, I'll take you back to Fervor. They'll be able to cure you." Now, she beamed at him. "And, they'll most likely hail you as a hero. The whole planet will be grateful to you for what you've done."

"Just doing... the right thing." He whispered as he finally allowed his spasming muscles to relax, sprawling in the dirt. "Ugh... You better... hurry."

'Are you now?' The voice entered both their heads. Ertai instantly tried to spring back to his feet, but ended up smashing his face into the dirt, where he coughed again. 'You tried to deprive this universe of its savior! I wouldn't exactly term that the "right thing".'

"HOW?!" Ertai demanded of the air. The Lavoid's body was still sprawled in the dirt, dust beginning to coat the inside of the empty skull.

'I see Magus must not have told you how he killed my father. Though since he seems to have forgotten himself, that shouldn't be surprising.' Ertai growled, but had no response. 'You are definitely the toughest opponent I've ever faced, and for managing to kill me, in a fashion, I'll allow you to live. Again, in a fashion.' Ertai tried to say something, but just hacked up more blood. 'However, I have no more time to play with you. Begone!'

With that, a Gate appeared in front of them, but quickly expanded to many times the normal size. A howling wind began to blow them toward it. Seraphina had been stunned into silence, but Ertai managed to protest weakly. "Not... fair..."

'No.' Levasos agreed. 'It's not.' Then, they were gone.

.

"The battle won't end as long as I'm alive." - Treize Khushrenada, _Gundam Wing_


	51. And the Endless Waltz Continues

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 51:** **And the Endless Waltz Continues**

By Nanaki

Time Unknown

Seraphina cried out as the Gate spit them out about twenty feet above their destination. Ertai landed roughly on his back and lay there, unmoving. Seraphina's feet smashed through whatever the surface was, and she sank up to her knees before she came to a painful halt. As she took in their surroundings, she found that they were on a crude wooden raft in the middle of an ocean. Some bleached, scattered bones were wedged in between the logs, and several completely empty canteens were strewn over the deck. Some type of fungus was growing on what remained of a tattered sail. The wood the raft was made of was well on its way to rotten, which was why her feet had passed through it so easily. Grimacing, she pulled her scraped legs out of the holes they had made and crawled over to Ertai on all fours. "Are you still with me?" She shook him a little more roughly than she probably should have.

"For the moment." His hoarse voice responded. "My lungs..." He paused to breathe for a moment. "Filled with fluid."

"I don't have any medical supplies in my belt." She sighed as she sat down beside him. "Well, nothing that can handle this, anyway."

"Neither do I." He croaked out. She put a hand on his forehead again, and discovered that he seemed even hotter than before. Though it might have been the effect of the cool sea air at night. "C-cold." He got out through chattering teeth.

"I'm sorry, I don't have anything..." She gestured helplessly.

"Sail!" He pointed weakly. Looking surprised, she carefully stood up. She found that the sail was simply nailed into place, so she began cutting it loose with her sword. When she'd finished, she regarded her sword disapprovingly, then made to throw it into the water. "No!" Ertai cried. She looked at him questioningly. "Might come in handy..."

"You still have your molesteel knife, don't you?" She sat down again, and threw the sail on top of him, doing her best to tuck him in.

"Oh. Yeah." He patted his utility belt underneath the cloth. "I forgot." Suddenly, his left arm jerked out from under the improvised blanket, trying frantically to push Seraphina away.

"What's the mat- oh." She backed away a bit as he vomited blood. Though he'd done a good job of aiming to the side, an ugly red blob now ran from his head down the sail.

"S-sorry." He whispered.

"It's not your fault." She put her right hand on his shoulder.

"Even so." He smiled weakly. "Ugh... I need sleep."

Her eyes widened at that. "No! Stay with me!"

"We don't have any medicine." His eyes closed, though he was trying to keep them open. "We're in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing we can do."

"Wait!" Her eyes lit up. "Can't you teleport us away from here?"

"Even I..." he paused to wheeze, "can't teleport through time. I don't know when we are."

"But there's... There has to be **something** we can do!" She protested.

Ertai could almost picture Levasos' disease destroying his white blood cells as he felt his strength leaving him. "Nothing." His tongue felt heavy. He was beginning to slur his words. "I'm sorry... broke my probise..."

She took his left hand in her right. "You didn't make me any promises." She told him, as if nothing at all was wrong. "What do you mean?"

"I probised... you wouldn' be alone." His hand went limp in her grasp for a moment, before strengthening. His breathing was becoming labored. Suddenly, his eyes fluttered open again, and his chest lurched off of the wood. "Tell me one more thing. Was I just being an idiot, thinking I could kill Levasos? Did I ever really have a chance?" He tried to stay that way until she could give him an answer, but he collapsed back to the deck. His lungs were flooded. He couldn't get any air.

A few tears streamed down her face as she saw his breathing becoming more and more shallow. She wracked her brain for options, but there weren't any. Finally, Ertai let out what sounded like a soft gasp of surprise, and stopped breathing. "Oh!" She squeezed his hand, but got no response. "You were wonderful, Ertai. You were amazing." She hoped he'd heard those words.

Ertai found himself retreating to the inner recesses of his consciousness as his body shut down. It almost seemed like he'd shed the sack of bones and meat that made up most of him, and was just pure thought now, though not for very long. 'Well, that was a hell of a day.' He observed to himself. 'Started out like any other, but then I saved the girl, almost saved the world, and ended up dead. I did not see that one coming.' He let out a mental sigh, glad that he didn't have to use his lungs to do that much. 'Hell of a day. Schala, I hope you have better luck when the time comes...' Then, everything went black.

.

The End of Time, a Half Hour Prior

Tempo finally paused to evaluate himself as they stepped back onto the grey bricks of the End of Time. "Eesh, I got some kind of crap all over me. What is this stuff?" He brushed off his shoulder, and a small cloud of dust rose into the air.

"Rubble from the fortress, no doubt." Lion brushed himself off as well. Then he looked back at Tempo. "So, where to next, fearless leader?"

"A good night's sleep." Tempo responded. "Though exactly where, I don't know yet." They slowly walked back over to Keldon's platform, limping or pausing to wince now that the adrenaline had worn off. "I see that the pillars are back." Tempo observed once they arrived.

"Indeed." The mysterious man nodded. "Will you be taking off again?"

Tempo thought it over for a minute. "Lesse, today it's... Holy crap, it's only Sunday night! Seems like we were last here a lot longer than last nigh..." Tempo frowned.

"What is it?" Silva asked.

Tempo scratched his chin. "When Garin sent us here from the basketball game, it was somewhere around the neighborhood of nine p.m. But when we went back to Lion's time, it was still morning."

Lion laughed a little. "Yeah, Garin. I'd almost forgotten about him."

"Do you think he's connected with Moogoo and the others?" Schala raised an eyebrow.

Lion shook his head. "No. His power was nothing like Moogoo and Habeeb's. Or the Lavoid, for that matter."

"Damn." Tempo sighed. "If he's not allied with any of the major players in this conflict, Schala's theory may be right. He may be pulling all of our strings."

"If he has that much power," Schala looked thoughtful, "he may have manipulated time so that we arrived at the Soultech building just in time for Lion to see Tess."

"But what does he want?" Tempo looked a little angry now. "What the hell does he want? I fail to see any overarching plan or strategy behind killing the love of my life, invading my dreams, beating the crap out of me, and getting me tangled up in Lion's mess. No offense." He was quick to add, glancing at Lion.

"You don't have to be apprehensive. I know it was quite a large mess." Lion folded his arms. "If you're planning on getting some rest, I'll do the same, in a sense." He started to head back toward the Gates. "I need to let Tess know we made it out okay." Now, he smiled. "And I won't be back tonight. If anyone has any questions, ask 'em now."

"Well, I got one. You didn't **really** have your powers the whole time, did you?" Tempo asked.

"Of course not." Lion shook his head. "Though it was a lot of fun to screw with Habeeb and make him think I did. Ocello may have been right about 'synth power, but a little helping of X-63 I stole from one of the Soultech outposts in the frontier added some extra persuasiveness to his argument."

Tempo laughed. "Very nice." Lion headed back to the Gates. "See you in the morning then. Enjoy."

Lion smirked. "You have no idea." Then, he stepped into the timestream, and was gone.

"I have some idea." Tempo whispered to himself, somehow managing to smile and frown at the same time.

"So Tempo, are we going home or what?" Silva asked, to change the subject.

Tempo laughed a little. "Well, I imagine the cops are after me for trashing the gym, so I'll stay here. You do what you want though."

"I better stay here too then." She bit her thumbnail, frowning. "If I go home without you, I probably won't come back."

"Are you sure that's not what you want?" Tempo raised an eyebrow. "Now that the Gates are back, we can go anywhere we want. I'm going to go with Lion to kill the Lavoid, because I don't want to see this planet get trashed, but you certainly don't have to come. You either." He turned to Schala.

"Hey, I'm the one who wanted to kill him in the first place, remember?" She smiled a bit as well. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I won't think any less of you if you go home." Tempo turned back to Silva.

"No, Tempo, I have to go with you." Tempo got a slightly smug look on his face. She didn't notice. "When we were in the fortress, I could **feel** the Lavoid approaching us. I didn't feel his power, like Lion. At least, I don't think so. I just felt him."

"There's a joke there that I'm not even gonna touch." Tempo waved his hands in front of him.

"Oh, come on! I'm being serious!" She scolded him.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." Tempo forced himself to stop smiling. "Anyway, this is really the first time that we've been in control of where we can go. The last time, going anywhere but home wasn't even an option. So now my question is, where should we head to when Lion gets back?"

"2600 A.D." Schala answered right away. "We kill him before he has a chance to cause Armageddon."

"Of course." Tempo nodded. "But would that solve the problem?"

"Why wouldn't it?" Schala shrugged.

"What about Gazuga?" He asked.

"Who?"

"Remember, when we first got to Moogoo's room in the middle ages, he said something like 'Disciples of Gazuga, receive my offerings!' in an overdramatic voice. Plus, why did Habeeb and Moogoo send us to that fortress if there was no one there to fight us? And what about the two people that girl with Ertai mentioned? Leng and Magus, if I remember correctly."

"Magus is my brother, I'm assuming." Schala nodded. "Leng, I have no idea."

"In any case, I think there's more going on here than just the Lavoid."

"Levasos." Silva broke in.

"What?" Tempo turned back to her.

"His name is Levasos." Silva said earnestly. Tempo was looking a little weirded out now.

"Oooookay. His name can be Francis Poodle-Buns for all I care. I don't plan on getting to know him." Tempo rubbed his eyes. "Anyway, sleep time. Tempo talk in morning!" He announced.

"Tempo talk sentence fragments in morning too?" Schala asked him.

"Depend on how well he sleep!" Tempo folded his arms, then looked at Keldon. "Um, do you have room for us to stay here tonight? We could just crash on the floor of your room, if you don't mind."

"This is my room." Keldon deadpanned. "Thanks for including me in the conversation, by the way."

"Oh, sorry." Tempo sheepishly rubbed his head. "But what do you mean, this is your room?"

"I don't sleep." Keldon explained. Tempo's eyes widened. "I'm not exactly mortal, in the traditional sense."

Schala shook her head, as if remembering something. "Wait a minute. Last time we were here, you said you 'see an awful lot from up here'. Can you see how Ertai is doing against... Levasos?" She got a feel for the name.

"Certainly." Keldon nodded. His eyes lost focus, and he was silent for several seconds before answering. "He's winning."

"He is?!" All three of them exclaimed at the same time.

"In the sense of who's taking more physical damage in the battle, yes." He nodded. "However, Levasos cannot be destroyed just by killing his physical form..."

"What?" Tempo demanded. "That's cheating!"

"Cheating?" Keldon raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you're still thinking in such terms of black and white."

"Why not?" Tempo's smirk returned. "We know he destroys this planet in the future. We're trying to stop him, because we just want to live peaceful lives. Sometimes black and white is accurate."

"He isn't evil." Keldon shook his head.

"What are you talking about?!" Tempo sounded like he was talking to a five year old. "We know that in 2600 A.D., he fries the planet so that only twenty four humans survive! How is that not evil?"

"He didn't do it for himself. He did it to save humanity from itself."

"You almost sound like you're on his side." Tempo frowned.

"Who says I'm not?" Keldon smiled. The other three looked like they were all ready to jump away from him. "I certainly don't want him to achieve his goals, but his intentions are noble. It's just his reasoning that is flawed. Anyway..." Keldon snapped his fingers, and three beds instantly appeared on the platform. "I have no intention of harming any of you, if that's what you're worried about."

Tempo continued giving him a funny look, but unclipped his weapon belt and let it thunk to the ground anyway. He unbuckled his armor, kicked off his shoes, and climbed under the covers without another word. The ladies stared at him for a second, then mimicked his actions. "Are you just gonna stand there all night?" Tempo called over his shoulder.

"No, actually." Keldon said, and abruptly disappeared. Tempo snorted, burrowed into the mattress, and was asleep within two minutes.

.

"His abilities have made him arrogant..." - Obi-Wan Kenobi, _Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones_

(Nanaki's note: With this posting, we are now officially caught up with Icy's. Which means, the next chapter to be posted will be absolutely, never before seen, one hundred percent new. Also, if you're wondering about the title for this chapter, the whole "Endless Waltz Continues" bit was because this was the first story I've written, and not just the first fanfic, to reach over fifty chapters in length, and I wanted to reassure everyone that this story is nowhere close to being over. And, if you're thinking of pointing out that, with the prologue and epilogues, Mount Woe was actually fifty four chapters long, I can say in all sincerity: Shut up. :) Just remember: NEW chapter next update! Excitement!)


	52. Radical Dreamers: Schala and Levasos

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 52: ****Radical Dreamers: Schala and Levasos**

By Nanaki

The End of Time

Schala sat up in bed, only to find that it was completely dark. The torch at the center of the platform must have gone out, except... The air here didn't feel like the air at the end of time. It was a lot warmer. She was aware of an odd pounding, something that was strangely familiar. She put a hand to her chest, and found that her heart was beating! What the hell? That didn't make any sense. Something else felt odd too. Her robes were gone. She was wearing only the tank top and tight pants that hadn't seen the light of day for two years. As she felt around for the robes, she realized that the sheets weren't there either. She wasn't in a bed. Just as she was about to ignite a purple blaze to see by, another light appeared in the distance.

"Fight me!" A voice reached her. Racing toward her was a figure bathed in fire, wielding two glowing swords. Schala struggled to lurch to her feet, and found herself jumping high in the air. "That's right, fight me like only you can!" The figure came to an abrupt stop five feet in front of her, the flames engulfing him amazingly not producing any heat. Schala backed up a step, and realized she was clenching something in her right hand. As she hurriedly examined it, she saw that it was a narrow metal cylinder, just under a foot long. Even as she turned it over, she somehow knew where the red switch would be. She also knew to hold it away from her as she flicked it on, and a humming green blade of energy erupted from it.

"Doesn't it feel good?" The blazing apparition asked. "Doesn't it feel natural?"

"I don't appreciate being manipulated by you, Levasos." Schala held her weapon forward. The Lavoid laughed.

"This is just a dream, my dear, nothing more. Just the same though, doesn't this feel right? Don't you miss being alive like this?" Schala felt adrenaline surging throughout her body as she remained tense, and it felt good. REALLY good. "Yes, you want to fight, don't you?" Levasos sounded delighted.

"Shut up!" Schala yelled, surprisingly loud, or so she thought. "I don't have to do anything you say."

"I won't mind, really." Levasos shrugged. "Ertai lost, you know."

"Hyaaaah!!" She screamed, and charged at him. Their swords made odd noises as they clashed. He was swinging his two energy blades as fast as he could, and yet, she was keeping up. Twirling, jumping, ducking, slashing many times per second, her muscles were straining with the effort, and yet, it felt great.

"Whose side are you going to be on, Schala?" Levasos asked casually, even as he continued his deadly dance.

"The side of good!" She shouted back confidently. She didn't remember aching muscles feeling so satisfying. She didn't remember breathing hard feeling so good.

"And how do you know what good is?" He raised an eyeridge. "Let me tell you a quick story." She looked like she wanted to retort, but she couldn't spare the concentration. "There were once two people with the same soul. One was born in a society of shallow idiots, slowly destroying his hearing and laughing at fart jokes. The other wants to end the suffering caused by all the petty bickering in this universe, and will destroy even the Lavoid Queens to do it!" Levasos slammed both swords into Schala's block at the same time, pushing her back. "Which one would you consider to be on 'the side of good'?" In response, she launched into him with a very tricky combo, and he had to stop talking for a bit to concentrate. "Hah... Excellent! See what you can do with your rightful power restored to you? If you continue following the path of the shallow idiot, you will die very soon."

"I'm already dead." Schala glared at him.

"No Schala!" He shouted vehemently, his eyes widening with apparently real concern. "Flesh is unimportant! It's the spirit that matters! Do you think I like having to live as this monstrousity?!" With that, he launched at her again, and the conversation ended for a moment as three whirling blades filled up their vision. Scarcely five seconds later, several dozen blows had been exchanged, and Schala staggered back, feeling dizzy. She had no idea how she had managed to keep up with him. "No, I hate it!" He continued as if nothing had happened. "But oh well! I keep going! I've moved on, while you've stayed the same as just after we were killed two years ago!" He smiled, for a moment. "Or 73 million, depending on which aspect of me you ask."

Schala was too stunned to speak. She just stared at him, mouth agape. "Oh please, Schala. I was killed by Lavos, for crying out loud. Did you really think I would just die like a normal peron?"

"But... But I talked to..." her voice hardened, **"Greven**, in the afterlife. You can't be him." Her eyes returned to glaring. "Tempo is him! I'm sure of it!"

Levasos shrugged. "So I pulled a Grahf. Actually, Lavos did, but oh well. Back to my point. We do not die. We sleep, and we change. Death is a concept invented by those who have had only one life." He flicked off the glowing sword in his right hand, and let it clatter to the floor. He stretched the hand out. "Schala, join me, and together, we will destroy the Queens! And even more important than that, we will be together again! I've lain asleep on this planet for 70 million years, and there wasn't one day when I didn't dream of you! Even when you were trying to kill me in orbit, I still loved you!"

Schala's face was somewhere between anger and confusion. She hated this being, and all that he represented! And yet, if what he was saying was true...

"Yes Schala! Don't be afraid of my current form. When I have become God, I'm quite certain I'll be able to become human again, even if that 'created in God's own image' load isn't true."

"Become God?" Schala asked, incredulous. "I think even communicating with God is above the lot of we mere mortals, never mind becoming like him."

"That's where you're wrong, Schala!" Levasos leaned forward, and even though his eyes were uniformly colored, they seemed to take on a hungry glint. "It's so simple, I'm surprised it hasn't been done already. But first, the Queens must be eliminated. They alone have the power to stop me."

Schala shook her head, confident now. "Aren't you forgetting someone? God is all-powerful, you idiot. He can hear you right now, and surely he knows what you intend to do, whatever it is.

Levasos just shook his head, chuckling to himself. "I have no control over that, so I don't worry about it. But someone has to step forward to end the madness. Someone has to put an end to the vicious cycles of anger, hatred, fear, war, and revenge that have plagued this universe and all its alternates for the last fifty billion years. If not me, who? If not now, when? How many more beings will have to suffer through what we did, or worse?"

Schala breathed deep, felt her heart beating, the adrenaline still coursing through her system, and smiled serenely. She felt like her old self again. "Now who's being weak? You still haven't forgiven the world for hurting you. You're still trying to fight Zeal. Yes, we've suffered through some terrible experiences. Yes, billions, maybe trillions, of innocent beings have died before their time over the aeons. But that's part of what it is to be alive. Without the bad, good wouldn't seem so good. Without pain, what would be so great about pleasure? Without anger and hate, why would love be so special? It would be nice to live in a perfect world, but only God has the power to make that..." She trailed off, as something dawned on her.

"It seems you are beginning to grasp part of my plan." Levasos nodded. "Yes, I will make that perfect world, in all of our universes. Since God refuses to do it, I will. I don't know why he allows the suffering to continue when he has the power to stop it at will. If he's testing us, how much more data does he need? What is he waiting for?"

"That's not for us to know." Schala replied quietly.

He glared at her. "You trust him far too much. He may be a supreme being to us, but he's not perfect. He can't be. It's simply impossible."

"How in the world would you know that?" She demanded. It seemed the more she questioned him, the more agitated and defensive he got. Why would that be, if he was so determined?

"Reality is an infinite scale! There is no smallest or largest, no highest or lowest. There are no 'ests'! God may have power beyond our comprehension, but there are beings even more powerful than him! Once I become God, I'll find a way to become them too! I will rise even above them! I will constantly ascend, until I find an answer."

"An answer to what?" She asked calmly.

"A fairly simple question, really. Why are we here, why does anything exist, and why are we made to suffer?"

"In other words, what is the meaning of life?" Schala raised an eyebrow. "Melchior first asked me if I'd ever thought about that when I was four years old. I didn't have an answer for him then, but I do now. We exist to each find meaning for ourselves."

Levasos raised his arms up, almost in exasperation, it seemed. "Well Schala, it may have taken me 73 million years, but I've found meaning. Try to be happy for me." He took a step toward her, his hand held up in warning. "Don't try to stop me." He took another step forward, and took her hesitant left hand in his right. "And please, please come back to me." She reluctantly looked from his hand up to his eyes, and found a wry grin on his face. That special Vecar grin. It was him, it really was. Just as no one could fake his walk, no one could fake his grin. He began to lean down to kiss her, and she didn't back away. She looked up into his eyes... His orange, lifeless eyes.

She became aware of the green blade of energy still humming in her right hand, and she struck up, quickly. His right arm went flying into the darkness around them. He jumped away, looking shocked. "I couldn't look into your eyes." She explained, even as orange blood dripped from the stump below his shoulder. "You remember how I used to do that, right?" She asked. He gulped, a pained expression on his face. He did. Damn. "I tried to, and all I could see was myself, and what an idiot I was being. Yes, someone I loved was once ripped painfully away from me, and I miss him very much, but not so much that I won't try to stop a monster."

Levasos let out an otherwordly scream, and charged at her, swinging his own energy blade above his head in a huge arc. She parried the strike easily. She was in control now. She batted his next swing away, and opened a gash under his ribs. He struck outwards, very wide, sure that he would get her. She deflected his blade up, then brought hers down, severing his left arm. Before the shock could even register on his face, her green blade was buried up to the hilt in his chest.

She let it go as the look of extreme pain on Levasos' face changed to a toothy grin, complete with needle-sharp teeth. "Well, you certainly had more control over this conversation than I planned, but I think my point remains. Join me and become a Goddess, or stay with Tempo and die, cold and lonely. It's your choice."

"You already know what my decision is." She hissed.

"Fine. But don't be surprised if I try to win you over some more."

* * *

Schala sat up in bed, gasping. No heartbeat. No blood. No adrenaline. "No sword, get bored!" She said out loud, quoting from an insipid bedtime story she'd read to Janus when he was about two years old. Even at that tender age, he'd seemed kind of cynical about it. Schala sighed as she sank back down to the bed, seeing the others were sound asleep.

"If there's any humanity left in you, don't bring her back!" The last words she'd heard her father say echoed through her mind.

"Yeah Dad, but you forgot to tell Lavos not to bring **him** back either." She pounded her fist on the bed, tears beginning to stream down her face once more. "God damn it."

* * *

70 Million B.C.

Levasos' eyes fluttered open, and he felt relieved as the bright lights of his control center in Aybabtu momentarily blinded him. Dream entrances were very difficult to break before the other person woke up, and if she had been as cruel as she had a right to be, he would have had a very rough night. "My lord, are you all right?" Levasos squinted up, to see Gazuga hovering over him.

"Just a dream entrance that didn't go as smoothly as planned." Levasos said, and instantly regretted it. He should not have said that much.

"A dream entrance?" Levasos could picture Gazuga raising an eyebrow underneath his mask. "Who were you talking to?"

"Never mind. I shouldn't have said anything." Levasos gave a dismissive gesture with his hand.

Gazuga bowed low. "Master, I swore to fight by your side, even in the face of God! You can trust me. I am your humble servant!"

"But you weren't always." Levasos stood up, as always, his posture perfect, his muscles honed to perfection. "There was a time when you were my mortal enemy. And that is exactly why I can't tell you." With that, Levasos strode across the control center, where dozens of Gazuga's top men were busily working at quantum computer terminals. Gazuga remained where he was, trying to think of something to say.

Levasos stepped out onto one of Aybabtu's many balconies, and gazed up at the stars. Near the very top of the sky, he spotted Kalendra. It wasn't a very bright star from here, but as always, he remembered how brilliant it looked, standing on the shore of the great lake of Zeal. It was a shame that Elosia would be destroyed only a few thousand years after this time, by a Sraphite civil war. He let his shoulders droop momentarily, then straightened up again. "It will live again, in me. I will end the destruction for good." He held a hand up to the stars, then clenched it into a fist. "God... I'm going to kill you."

.

"Why do you always talk to yourself?"

"I simply have a penchant for intelligent conversation." - Black Arachnia and Megatron, _Transformers: Beast Wars_

(Nanaki's note: There you have it. The first new Tempo Trigger chapter in over six years. While this chapter is just now seeing the light of day, it was originally written in the spring of 2002, most of it right after I first saw the official, non-teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode II, which is to this day one of the most kickass movie trailers I've ever seen. In addition to the lightsaber action, it's a little too obvious that some of Levasos' lines here were also inspired by the trailer, but oh well. On a more substantive note, Schala and Levasos' argument about God in this chapter is an argument I've had with myself many times, without any clear outcome. Plus, like a couple of the moments in Lion's Story, Levasos' line: "Don't be surprised if I try to win you over some more," was based on a real moment from my life. And yet, even though I'd said that directly, she WAS surprised when I tried to win her over some more. Women. Anyway, look for another new chapter very soon!)


	53. Radical Dreamers: Silva and Tempo

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 53: ****Radical Dreamers: Silva and Tempo**

By Nanaki

The End of Time

Silva was at one of those rare moments in a dream where one had a choice whether to wake up or continue on. She couldn't really remember what she'd been dreaming about, only that it was incomplete, and she wanted to see what happened. So she continued on. What followed were fleeting images, mostly of people she knew. Racing past her field of vision was Tempo, then Lion. Schala. Tess. A young man dressed entirely in roughly sewn leather. Then, the images got weirder. A young man with close-cropped blue hair. A man with very long blue hair, and a widow's peak to beat the band; throbbing veins in his forehead glowed green. Something that looked like a huge carnivorous dinosaur. Moogoo, Habeeb, and two other, similarly dressed figures. Then finally...

"Levasos." Silva automatically took a step back, then looked down at her feet, surprised that she had a physical body. In most of her dreams, she was just some sort of disembodied observer, but she had her body here, and in surprising clarity, no less. Also in surprising clarity, bathed in fire, hovering right in front of her, was a rather demonic looking figure that could be none other than Levasos.

"Indeed, I am Levasos," he nodded, "and I didn't expect you to find your way into my dreams for a good while yet." He flashed her a toothy grin. "Like Janus, you're turning out even better than I expected."

"What in the world are you talking about?" She asked, a little afraid. "I have nothing at all to do with you."

"That's where you're wrong, my dear." He turned his back to her, his arms clasped behind his back, in a dignified pose. "You are also an integral part of my project. Though admittedly, you were added to the lineup much later than Janus, you're equally important. Perhaps even more important."

"I'm a part of a project of yours?" Silva found it impossible to believe. "Look, I'm just an ordinary seventeen year old. You're badly deluded."

"That's probably true." Levasos smiled again. "Or else I wouldn't be attempting what I'm about to. But just the same, you have abilities the likes of which you probably can't imagine. Isn't it true that you felt my presence at Leng's fortress? And isn't it true that you felt the danger Lion was up against when he went to rescue his son? That's just the very tip of the iceberg. I designed you to be the greatest living sensor in the universe. Most likely the greatest sensor of any type. When you're properly trained, you'll be able to detect a bacteria on the other side of the galaxy if you want to. You'll even be able to detect the divine influence of God himself, normally above the lot of mere mortals, which is what I'm counting on you to do."

"I'd advise you to lay off the hallucinogens, spike head." Silva grimaced at him. "You're trying to confuse me, by which you hope to confuse Tempo, or something."

Levasos was just shaking his head, almost patiently, it seemed. "Believe what you want to. Evidence will present itself shortly, I promise." Then, a look of surprise appeared on his face. "Oh, and I forgot the most important one of all." Floating through her field of vision behind him was...

"Rena..." Silva whispered. "You have to be trying to mess with Tempo. How is she more important than him or Lion?"

"She's the motivation." Levasos explained cryptically. "I've done my best to keep tabs on all of you, you know. And since you're from all the different times in the book, that was no easy task." He shook his head sadly. "Rena was a wonderful person. Just like you, only without the self doubt, pessimism, and anorexia."

Silva put her hands on her hips, her fear evaporating as outrage replaced it. "I am **not** anorexic!!" She shouted indignantly.

The Lavoid smirked. "Of course you're not. That's why you weigh ninety pounds with shoes on, right?" He chuckled a bit. "It's not really your fault, I know. It's your incredibly shallow society that made you think being healthy is ugly. Anyway, Tempo loved your sister with all his heart, and he still does. His pain at her absence has had an unfortunate side effect, however. A misguided hero of the ages who knows nothing but how to kill has manipulated Tempo into thinking I'm his enemy. He created Tempo's anger, the thirst for revenge..."

"Wait a minute..." Silva glared severely at him. "This 'hero' wouldn't happen to be named Garin, would he?"

"That's him all right." The Lavoid nodded. "He's trying to trick all of you into killing me. Do you really think Tempo would be here now if Rena was still alive? Hardly. The two of them would be snuggled up in front of the fireplace at his house right now, talking about setting a wedding date. Tempo may claim to want to protect the planet, but what he's really doing is searching for a way to purge the anger from his heart." Levasos shook his head in what appeared to be geniune regret. "Garin has played a cruel trick on him. You can't ease the hurt over a lost loved one by getting angry. It will only increase your anger. You have to let it go." Now, he fixed Silva with a pointed look. "I'm trying to help everyone let it all go. All the pain, all the loss, all the dashed hopes, it won't matter in a week or two. Surely you'd be willing to help me do that."

"If that's really what you want to do." Silva turned her head away from him, puzzled by his monologue. "But I don't buy it. Even if you do want to end suffering, there's some ulterior motive that you aren't telling me."

"You think I'm just trying to talk you out of killing me, huh?" Levasos showed a toothy grin. "Even if you could, I'm not afraid to die. If I have to die to achieve my goals, that's fine with me. I'm willing to be erased from existence, if only my plan can work. Anyway, stay with Tempo for a little while longer. His angry quest will help you develop your skills." With that, she woke up.

* * *

Tempo found himself walking through the residential neighborhood surrounding the Soultech academy, after his trial to move up from cadet to page. He was completely exhausted. Since powers could not be used outside of real combat conditions, everything was about pure physical skill. Six hours of bashing, slashing, jumping, climbing, and, after his mace broke, punching, had more than worn him out. He was dimly aware that he wasn't walking toward his house, and paused to take in his surroundings. He was only a couple blocks from Rena's house. Oh well, he could shower and take a nap there.

Her parents were out of town for a couple days, not that it mattered. Like her, he'd known them since he was four years old, and they trusted him completely. In fact, they had been rather pleased when Rena started going out with him, rather than "one of those idiot, drug addict jocks". Tempo felt a few butterflies in his stomach, even now, as he recalled how much nerve he'd had to call up to ask out someone he'd known for more than twelve years. How did you explain to an old friend that you now wanted to be romantically involved, when you'd never been interested before?

But he had been interested before, he smiled to himself. It just took him until age sixteen to realize it. He'd gone through his freshman and sophomore years of high school dating "hot" girls, because it was the cool thing to do. The fact that the hot girls that were willing to go out with him showed up at school either drunk or stoned nearly every morning was not seen as a down side. Finally, after the third time in two months he was dumped in favor of a football player, he'd slammed his fist into his locker, vowing that he never wanted to have anything to do with women again. Though he certainly wasn't gay, he added as an afterthought.

"Never is a long time, Tempo." A friendly voice said from behind him. He'd turned around to find Rena standing there, her folder and a few books under her arm.

He shook his head in frustration. "Well, no offense Rena, but it's just not worth it. I invest all this time and effort and feeling... and for what? So they won't be bored until a linebacker has a slot open? Though I guess it's more the other way around..." He finally allowed himself a slight smile at that.

"You just haven't found the right girl yet." Rena said candidly. "Whenever I see you with one of your alleged 'girlfriends', you always seem kind of stressed, like you're afraid of making a mistake. Either that, or you're overfull of bravado, trying to prove you're worthy of their attention." Tempo frowned and folded his arms, glaring at her, but said nothing. Rena knew from experience that meant he knew she was right. "When you find the right person, it's not like that. You feel relaxed in their presence. You don't have to worry about goofing something up, because she won't care. In fact, she'll usually find it charming."

Now Tempo smiled. "So, I must ask the amazingly single Rena, when did she find her own 'right person' to teach her all this?"

Rena looked a little embarassed. "Never. It's just, judging from books, movies, and what not, that's what it's like." Now she looked at him again. "Don't throw in the towel yet Tempo. The right girl for you is out there somewhere. You just have to find her." She looked at her watch. "Oops. I gotta take off, or I'll be late. Just don't give up." She threw him a smile over her shoulder as she headed off down the hall.

Then, as he watched her exceptionally shapely figure moving down the hall, it hit him. She usually had a smile for everyone, but the way she smiled at him... It just seemed brighter somehow. 'You're imagining things, idiot.' He thought at himself. 'She's not even my type anyway.' But as Tempo headed off to his next class, not really noticing that he was late, he realized that he didn't really know what his type was. Pretty much all he had to go on was physical appearance. He liked brunettes, with long hair. He liked his girlfriends fairly short, around the 5' 3" range. He didn't care about what seemed to be foremost in most guys' minds: breasts. Tempo imagined that they'd feel great resting in the palms of his hands no matter what size they were. Not that he'd find out any time soon, the way he was going. At any rate, Rena, with her golden blonde hair that was barely longer than his, and her 5' 6" height, didn't fit Tempo's mental image of his ideal woman.

However, Tempo had no idea what he wanted in terms of personality. He liked to think of himself as somewhat conservative, and wanted someone who'd be comfortable depending on him. However, he certainly didn't want a gold digger, and Soultech commanders collected rather large salaries. He also didn't want a timid little creature who'd just stay at home, baking pies and raising the young 'uns. Tempo realized that almost any other guy his age would have thought he was nuts to be thinking about stuff like that when he was only sixteen. But Tempo did think about it.

What almost no one could understand about Tempo was that his brain was never empty. He couldn't just sit and space out like most people his age. Sure, he loved to watch TV, but unless he was watching a pretty cerebral show, he had to be doing something else while he watched. Putting up with a screeching modem to get on "Locorn Online", playing cards, writing down song lyrics, or even just eating, he **had** to be doing two things at once. He'd read many a novel while watching syndicated shows, and constantly baffled people with his ability to pay complete attention to two things at once. He'd listen to music while composing his own, and his own songs would be completely original, bearing no resemblance to what he'd been listening to.

As soon as he woke up in the morning, Tempo's mind was whirling with thoughts. His dad had learned as early as third grade that it was useless to give Tempo a bed time, since he really couldn't go to sleep until he was too tired to think any longer. As a result of Tempo's constantly active brain, he hated stupid people. He hated mean people. He resented authority, since he was almost always more intelligent than those who imposed it on him. He hated that most movies and TV shows were aimed at a fifth grade level, if not lower. He hated that the most creative thought most of the students in his school ever experienced was trying to figure out the cheapest way to fix their cars.

More than anything, Tempo needed someone who understood how his brain worked. Sowell accepted Tempo's thought processes, but he didn't understand them. He didn't seem to get why Tempo was constantly agitated with society in general. 'But am I blind to someone who's understood me all along?' He wondered as he finally went in the door to his class. He ignored the disapproving glare from the teacher as he sat down towards the back of the room. With all the pot that teacher smoked, Tempo was surprised he could still tell time. While he counted the number of pencils stuck in the ceiling, his mind was filled with images of Rena's strikingly, one might almost say hauntingly, beautiful aqua blue eyes. They were alight with intelligence every time he saw her.

He remembered when he was four years old, when he'd broken away from his father and run out the hospital doors, crying with uncontrollable grief at his mother's passing. As he'd wailed loudly on the sidewalk, doctors and other hospital employees rushed past him, too busy to notice, and most people who were coming into the hospital were too distraught with their own problems. He'd cried until his throat was bleeding, and his tears had made dark stains on the sidewalk. By this time, he didn't care about announcing his grief to the world any longer. He just wanted the comfort of an understanding face. He wanted his father.

"What's wrong?" Tempo had opened his bleary eyes to see a little girl his age standing in front of him. Her parents had just noticed that she wasn't following them down the sidewalk any longer, and turned toward him. Tempo was so struck by the unusual shade of her brilliant blue eyes that he forgot to keep crying. As he wiped his nose on his sleeve and sniffled, she repeated her question. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"No..." Tempo's voice quavered. He was about to launch into the why of it, but then he noticed that she had a cast on her right arm. "What happened to you?" He blinked his painful eyes.

"Oh," and she held it up for him to see better, "I fell out of the big tree in my front yard. It hurt a lot!" She said enthusiastically. "But it feels fine now." Behind her, her parents chuckled. Then, Tempo's father came bursting out the front doors of the hospital, and the two went their separate ways. The next fall, they started kindergarten together.

'Seventy two pencils.' Tempo finished his count. 'Wow!' As the teacher continued to drone on about logarithms, Tempo's feelings were uncertain. 'Maybe', he thought to himself. 'Maybe...'

That night, he had a dream about her. It was rather... intense, to put it mildly. Tempo's dreams were usually purely nonsensical, involving everything from repeated falls from cliffs, to monsters, to monster trucks. As such, any dream that involved actual emotions usually left a lasting impression on him. He woke up the next morning with a proprietary feeling about Rena. 'If she's not the "right one", then I don't know anyone who is!' He'd jumped out of bed, in a hurry to talk to her before school started, and a whole swarm of butterflies in his stomach. 'She's mine, and I hope I'm hers... Time to find out!'

Now, as Tempo rounded a corner and Rena's house came into view, he couldn't help but smile at the mishmash of memories that had been running through his head on the walk over here. But then, that was how his thoughts always flowed. One unbidden thought flowed into the next, until there was a whole train of them, often on the most obscure or useless subjects. His thoughts could almost never be controlled, but they could be directed, and that was when the train became useful.

He was surprised to see her looking out her bedroom window, upstairs. She immediately slid the window up when she saw him. As always, he got a warm, contented feeling in the pit of his stomach at the sight of her. "What are you doing here?" She called down to him.

"I was too tired to walk home!" He called back, now not looking or sounding tired in the least.

"So you're gonna mooch off me again, huh?" She smiled down at him. He smiled back. She glanced at her watch. "All right, I gotta take off here in a few minutes. I'll leave the shower running for you."

"Thanks." Tempo wiped the sweat off his forehead, then frowned as he got a whiff of what his underarm smelled like. "Wow, I need it too. I smell like the dumpster behind McDinkle's."

"Oh, now **that's** romantic." Rena giggled. "I'll talk to you later tonight, and I imagine you'll still be asleep here."

"Probably." Tempo shrugged. "I'm beat." They stood there smiling at each other a few more moments, then Rena blew him a kiss and shut the window. 'Young fools in love.' Tempo thought, sighing contentedly. He walked up to the front door and went inside. He heard footsteps heading downstairs, then into the kitchen, and toward the garage. Rena must be heading out already. He wished she would have hung around to give him a goodbye kiss, but on the other hand, maybe it was better that she didn't smell him right now.

He headed upstairs to her bedroom and threw off his stinking long T-shirt. He realized that he had no change of clothes. Thinking it over for a second, he decided it didn't matter. Since Rena's parents weren't here, he could do laundry while wearing a towel. Then, he sat down on Rena's bed to take his boots off.

He woke up with a start, and turned immediately to the clock. Only ten minutes had passed since he fell asleep, and he settled back down to the bed. It felt so good, he might just have a nap before... Then, he sat back up as he heard water running in the bathroom. That's right, Rena had said she'd leave the shower running for him, which was a pretty odd thing to do, now that he thought about it. With the tiny hot water heater this house had, he'd be lucky if there was any hot water left. Tempo stumbled up off the bed. After a quick peek from the top of the stairs to make sure that no one had unexpectedly entered the house, he ditched his pants, socks, and boxers, then headed for the bathroom.

He was still groggy from his brief nap as he opened the door, which is perhaps why he didn't notice that the water coming from the showerhead was not making the characteristic noise of raining down on the tub and shower curtain. Rather, it was almost as if someone were in there. Tempo grabbed a towel off the spacious counter, then placed it on top of the towel rack next to the shower. There was another towel hung neatly over the rack, but he didn't pause to think about that. Every part of his body was sore, especially his feet and fists, and he was all grimy. This shower was going to feel good.

He slid back the shower curtain, and stood stock still in surprise. Rena was staring back at him, if anything, even more surprised than he was. Tempo tried to say something, but the only sound that came out of his mouth sounded uncannily like the trademark noise of the guys on the sitcom "Dudes Behaving Poorly". "Tempo, um..." Rena managed to get two words out, but then she was frozen again. Tempo was transfixed, studying with amazing clarity the water running down and spraying off of her perfect, perfect body. He had imagined her nude more times than he could count, but he found that his imagination did not do her justice. Somehow, all the various elements just came together perfectly to form a goddess. If he had been asked to draw his ideal image of the female form, Rena would have been it.

Rena was dimly aware of the water spilling out onto the floor, dimly aware that her father would be hitting Tempo in the head with a baseball bat if he were here now, but all that was far in the back of her mind. She had seen Tempo without a shirt on several occassions, and seen him in shorts much more often than that, but somehow, just what great shape he was in had escaped her until now. He had amazing muscles for a guy his age, but he wasn't some bulked up bodybuilder. Rather, he was fairly lean. She realized he didn't really have larger muscles than any other sixteen year old, his were just toned to perfection.

Both their faces were furiously red by now. Tempo realized with a start that he could not leave the room. He legitamitely now lacked the ability to turn around. He found himself taking a halting step forward, and was simultaneously awed at his audacity and inwardly cringing at how much potential trouble he was getting into. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if he could stop if she asked him, but then the doubt passed, and he knew he could. He could never do anything to hurt her. With an almost surprised expression on his face, he stepped into the shower with her and slowly slid the curtain closed behind him. She was looking into his eyes with an odd expression, but she didn't seem to be afraid. 'Just a kiss,' he reassured whatever part of himself was still having doubts. 'We'll just start with a kiss... She can tell me to stop any time she wants...' With that, he tilted his head down to kiss her intensely, and his arms went down to circle her waist. Their kiss intensified at the indescribably great feeling of their bare bodies pressing together, and Tempo had to exert considerable self control to keep the proceedings in a romantic mood, rather than the porn-star pace his body was screaming for him to give in to. Finally, as their kiss ended, Tempo felt a tingling sensation at the base of his spine as he realized she was not going to tell him to stop. He smiled at her, looked deep into her beautiful aqua blue eyes, and let himself be lost in them.

.

They made love there twice, and probably would have been up for several more, but the hot water ran out. Neither thought chattering teeth would be conducive to the amorous activities they had been engaged in, so they reluctantly stepped out of the shower and grabbed their towels. They hadn't said one word to each other this whole time, and they found that they still didn't need to. Tempo took the towel from around his waist to dry his hair off, revealing most of the rest of himself as he did so. He caught Rena's surprised expression, and shrugged, as if to say, 'What? It's nothing you haven't seen.' She shrugged back, as if just realizing it herself, and beamed at him. He was almost overwhelmed by the vibe of happiness and contentment he was getting from her. Though he had long been sure that she loved him as much as he loved her, he was still amazed that he could have this kind of effect on someone.

He was also now very, very tired. He pointed toward her bedroom, then yawned, to make his intent clear. He wasn't sure whether she was disappointed or relieved, but suspected it was a mix of both, just like it was for him. Rena threw on a T-shirt and a pair of panties, and Tempo again donned his boxers. They curled up together, Rena's head resting on his right shoulder, her right arm flung lazily across his stomach, her legs intertwined with his. Surprisingly, she drifted off to sleep first, occasionally letting out a contented little sigh. As Tempo gazed down at her fondly, his last waking thought was to wonder if he'd ever been this happy before.

When he woke up, it was getting dark outside. With a start, he realized they'd been asleep for quite a while. He saw that Rena was stirring into consciousness too, and she slid up the bed until she was even with him. She smiled softly at him. "Tempo, I love you."

He embraced her tightly. "I love you too Rena. God, I can't describe how much I love you." They just laid there contentedly for several minutes, looking at each other in a new light. "I would have stopped any time you asked, you know." Tempo finally said.

"I know. That's exactly why I didn't." She grinned. "Do you know how many people dream of a perfect moment like that? Most of the kids in our school will lose their virginity when they're too high to remember it, with someone they don't really like, but just happens to be there. But with us..." She drifted off as the vivid memories sprang back. "I could tell you didn't walk in there on purpose, or I would have kicked you in the groin." Tempo laughed. "And for you to do what you did... I loved it, but your stomach must have felt like it was filled with lead."

"It was like an out of body experience." Tempo nodded. "I couldn't believe what I was doing, as I was doing it. Fortunately, I returned to my body fairly quickly, and didn't miss out." They shared a laugh. Then they kissed again, and soon both pairs of hands grew very busy. Tentatively at first, but then with more confidence as both grew to realize this was exactly what the other wanted.

They both froze as the sound of the front door opening drifted up the stairs. Tempo's first thought was that it was her parents, and he just about had a heart attack. Rena put a restraining hand on his shoulder as he prepared to make a mad dash for his clothes. "It's okay!" She whispered. "That's just Silva getting home from her job at McDinkle's."

"Oh." Tempo breathed a large sigh of relief, then sank back down under the covers. They kissed again, and were about to resume where they'd left off, when they heard feet coming up the stairs. "Oh, crud!" Tempo whispered. They both scanned for likely hiding places, but rushing for the closet would make too much noise, and they didn't have time to go anywhere else. They heard a squeak, and knew Silva had just crossed the creaking step two thirds of the way up the stairs. Tempo smiled, then, muffling Rena's cry of protest, he rolled them both off the edge of the bed, to the floor opposite her bedroom door.

He managed to land first, controlling his landing so it made very little noise, and cushioning her fall. Then they huddled up, making as little noise as possible. They heard Silva's feet approaching the open bedroom door. "Rena, you home?" Silva called into the room. Rena and Tempo were now both struggling to suppress laughter. After about ten seconds, she headed off down the hall, to her own bedroom.

Tempo and Rena crawled back onto the bed, Tempo warily glancing at the door as he did so. He was surprised to find Rena pulling him back under the covers. "Rena! We can't now!" He said in an amused tone. "She's right down the hall!"

She held up a finger to his lips to shush him, then whispered, "Sure we can. We just have to be QUIET."

They were far from silent, but they managed not to attract Silva's attention over the next hour and a half.

When Tempo woke up again, he was surprised to see the clock reading one a.m. The only light in the room was coming from the orange glow of the streetlight outside. He clicked on Rena's bedside lamp, and winced at the relative brightness. Rena made an incomprehensible groan of protest, then buried her head in his shoulder again. With a start, Tempo realized a note was taped to his shoulder. He picked it up, and recognized Silva's handwriting:

"Holy crap, you guys. Uh, congratulations, I guess, but man! You're going to have to learn to be a lot more secretive. At any rate, I don't particularly want to see my scantily clad sister curled up with an even more scantily clad guy. Though as guys go Tempo, you're not bad."

Tempo chuckled. "What is it?" Rena lifted her head up. Tempo was about to show her the note, when she opened her mouth wide and started screaming.

Tempo bolted upright in bed. "Rena! What's wrong?! What is it?!" If she heard him, she couldn't respond. She just continued screaming. Writhing in apparent agony, she slipped off the bed and onto the floor. Tempo was horrified to see a gigantic slash had been opened in her back, and blood was gushing onto the floor. He was frozen for a moment, trying to figure out how it had happened. Then, right in front of his eyes, other slashes were opened on her arms, her legs, then her stomach as she turned over, struggling to defend against her unseen assailant.

"How?! How is this possible?!" Tempo demanded, then sprang into action. He hefted her off the floor, keeping his body between her and the direction most of the slashes seemed to be coming from. It did no good whatsoever. He felt the hot blood of new injuries flowing right onto his skin, from parts of her that should have been physically impossible to reach with him there. "Stop it!! **STOP IT**!!" He screamed at the air. "This can't be happening!!"

Then it hit him. This couldn't be happening. It wasn't real. And so, there was something he could do to stop it. "You just signed your death warrant." He growled to the air. Even as he held onto Rena, a tremendous green fire sprang up around him, and without any more words, time, or powering up, Rena's house, the neighborhood around it, and then the entire city of Locorn were vaporised in a green blast more powerful than a nuclear explosion. As black smoke and falling rubble clouded his vision, Tempo could still hear Rena screaming, very close. "Damn you!!" He screamed at the sky. "**DAMN YOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU**!!"

Then the smoke mysteriously cleared away from just a small section of the ground, and he could see Rena, apparently running away from whatever had hurt her. Then, she stopped short, staring at something Tempo couldn't see, and tried to go the other way. Before she could, there was a tremendous spray of blood, and her throat was rent open. She looked like she was trying to say something, but then she collapsed to the ground, and didn't move again. "**COWARD**!! **SHOW YOURSELF**!!" Tempo screamed at the top of his lungs. "I'm going to make sure that your torture is ten thousand times worse than what you just did to her!!" Tears were streaming down his face now, for many reasons. Tears of pain, tears of loss, tears of helplessness, tears of anger.

"I'm sorry, but I doubt Garin will show himself." Tempo whirled around, to find himself less than five feet from a blazing apparition. The scene of destruction around them faded to black until they were the only visible objects in an infinite darkness.

"Levasos." Tempo growled, and the Lavoid was surprised. He hadn't been aware that humans could growl. There was more than just venom in Tempo's voice. The human had seriously made a growling sound as he said the words. "For what you just did, I'm going to rip out your intestines and choke you with them."

"Unfortunately, your anger is misdirected." Levasos wagged a finger at him. "I didn't do it. All I did was show you an exact reenactment of what Garin did to your beloved."

"**WHY**?!" Tempo roared and sobbed at the same time.

"To remind you of who your true enemy is." Levasos said calmly. "I was sad when Rena died. She was a wonderful person. But to Garin, she was only genetic trash, to be disposed of in whatever manner amused him. Because she wasn't a hero, he only thought of her as a toy."

Tempo made his growling noise again. "Rena was a greater hero than I could ever hope of becoming."

Levasos chuckled. "I agree. Now, you seem to think that killing me will solve your problems. It will only complicate them. I want to stop Garin, and others like him, who know nothing but how to cause pain and suffering. I want to stop **all** pain and suffering in the universe."

"And to do that, you showed me the most painful thing in all of existence?!"

"Yes." The Lavoid smiled, but softly. "In hopes that it would convince you not to fight against me."

"Why would you even care?" Tempo demanded. "Aren't you supposed to be this near-omnipotent force?"

Levasos shook his head. "Tempo, from ten generations before you were born, your family has been bred specifically with the task of killing me. You have unfathomable power within you. Just be sure you put that power to good use."

Even as tears continued to pour down his face, Tempo smiled wickedly. "Oh, I will. You may be right about Garin being my true enemy, but for what you just did, you're going to the top of my hit list. And I wasn't kidding about what I said earlier. Ten thousand times. That's how much greater your pain will be. I'm going to rip you apart from the inside out, a molecule at a time."

Levasos waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, almost as if he was bored. "You're a very foolish man, Tempo." With that, Tempo woke up.

* * *

Tempo found himself staring up at the mists above the end of time, made even blurrier by the tears streaming down his face. "He may suffer something ten thousand times worse..." Tempo gulped as his throat tightened involuntarily. "But Garin, a quantity of pain can't even be assigned to what I'm going to do to you. I'm going to find some way to torture you eternally..."

"Tempo?" Tempo sat up in bed, then turned around to find Silva looking at him. "Don't tell me you dreamed about her again..."

Tempo couldn't keep the quaver out of his voice as he responded. "How could I not? I loved her so much... I still do."

"Oh, Tempo..." Silva sighed, then got up and crossed over to his bed. Tempo scooted over, and she laid down next to him. This was pretty much a routine by now. "What did you dream about?" She asked as she gave his hand a squeeze.

"The best possible one." He smiled. "The night you taped a note to my shoulder."

"Oh!" Silva laughed. "I'd almost forgotten about that."

"Yeah, but then Levasos corrupted it."

"He invaded your dreams too?"

"What?!" Tempo sat up. "That wasn't just my mind screwing with itself?!"

"No way." Silva shook her head. "He talked to me too. He told me Rena was the motivation."

"Huh." Tempo sank back down. "He told me Rena was genetic trash. I'm gonna kill that bastard, slowly and painfully."

"Well, I'll grant that he needs killing, anyway." Silva said softly.

"He did say something that piqued my curiousity though." Tempo purposefully changed the subject.

"What's that?"

"He said that Garin killed Rena because she wasn't a hero. Did he say anything to you that might explain that?"

"Beats me..." Silva shrugged. "I think he's just trying to mess with our heads. Don't listen to that creep." She gave his hand another squeeze.

Tempo sighed. "You know, sometimes I feel guilty about the way I depend on you like this, Silva. You and I have absolutely no romantic future together, except for perhaps a very difficult and twisted one."

Silva smiled at him. "Hey, it's a two way street. I depend on you for strength on this subject too. I might not miss her in the same way that you do, but I bet I miss her just as much." She ruffled Tempo's hair. "Now get back to sleep, great warrior. We've got some spiky assed alien butt to kick tomorrow."

Tempo chuckled a bit as he turned over under the covers. "We sure do. Good night, Silva."

She climbed back into her own bed. "Good night, Tempestuous."

From her own bed, Schala had eavesdropped on the entire conversation. She'd only paid halfhearted attention to the ending portion though, because one phrase kept repeating itself in her mind. "Garin killed Rena because she wasn't a hero." That made her wonder who the hell Garin was even more, but that didn't bother her nearly as much as the rest. Why would Garin kill someone for not being a hero? Then, a possible explanation entered Schala's head. The mere possibility of it being right horrified her. So she decided that she couldn't be right. But the doubt was there.

.

"I'm here without you baby,  
But you're still on my lonely mind...  
I think about you baby,  
And I dream about you all the time!

"I'm here without you baby,  
But you're still with me in my dreams.  
And tonight, girl...  
It's only you and me." - 3 Doors Down, _Here Without You_

(Nanaki's note: And with that, we come to the end of the Silver Age of my fan fiction. As with the last chapter, this was originally written in 2002. However, unlike most of my chapters, which tend to be written in one or two sittings, this was written over the course of about two months, and would be the last chapter to be completed for almost two years. When I was maybe one third of the way into Chapter 54, shortly after my twenty first birthday, I had the brilliant idea that I should reorganize my hard drive... **While I was drunk**. Yes, you read that right. I wouldn't run into someone with the knowledge necessary to get my computer working again for over a year. For that, I have to thank one of my two best friends, Josh Dougherty.

While my computer was out of comission, Ryan, my best friend in Death Valley, dug up his Windows XP installation disc and suggested that I just start over. At that time (spring 2003), I was going through computer withdrawal bad enough that I seriously considered it, even though it meant all of my 2,000+ mp3s would disappear. But then I thought about this chapter, and I just couldn't do it. I really don't think I could have rewritten this one, because it wouldn't have been the same. It might have been even better, but it wouldn't have been the same. Little did I know that I would almost lose this chapter a second time... But I'll talk about that next update. So, at the time I wrote this, I had no idea that it would be the last chapter for a long time. But boy, talk about ending on a high note.)


	54. Up All Night

**Tempo Trigger **

**Chapter 54: ****Up All Night**

By Nanaki

3500 A.D.

Lion and Tess both groggily sat up in bed and rubbed their eyes at the sound of the baby crying. Tess automatically put her feet on the floor and started to get up, but Lion put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take care of it. I'm sure it's way past being my turn."

She smiled at him, but raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? You don't know what he wants."

He shrugged. "I'll figure it out. I imagine it's either changing or feeding or... What else is there, anyway?" She looked like she was about to say something, but he anticipated it. "I'll find out soon enough, I'm sure. Anyway, you deserve some rest, especially after what I did to you tonight."

Her face went red as she remembered. "Hey, I was up to the challenge. It'd been a **long** time."

He smiled. "Yeah, but after all the fighting today, I didn't expect to be so... vigorous is the word I'm looking for, I guess." At that, the baby howled louder, and Lion got out of bed. "All right, little guy, I'm on my way." He stumbled groggily into the hall. He paused for a moment, unsure of which way to go. This was actually the first time he'd been on the second floor of President Soultech's house. If the president hadn't been pulling an all nighter in his office right now, Lion wouldn't have been here now either. Fortunately, it seemed that every time Lion let off a World Destroyer, Soultech held a big strategy session in response. The crying grew louder, and Lion realized that he didn't have far to go. He opened a door into a room with a large window looking out on the spacious backyard, and a rather deluxe looking crib against the right wall.

Lion reached down, and discovered a rather unusual sensation in his stomach as he picked up his son for the first time. The baby stopped crying as he was picked up, but just looked at Lion with a puzzled expression. "So, uh... I'm here." Lion told him. His son glanced around the room quickly, before his gaze returned to Lion. "I know, I know. Where's Mom, right? Well, I'm Dad, the other half of the equation." The baby gave a rather annoyed little squeal, clearly not yet having what he wanted. "Okay then, I guess you weren't just lonely. Hmm..." Lion lifted him up higher, and gave a quick sniff. He hadn't actually smelled a dirty diaper since Ty was a baby, but he was pretty sure the baby was clean. "Okay, you must be hungry then." The baby let out another plaintive wail. "Yeah, I'm working on it." Lion told him, scanning the room for possible food sources. "If Mom's been breast feeding you, I'm afraid you're out of luck just now. Though I can't say I blame you for missin' 'em."

Lion spotted an empty bottle on a table with a big plastic tub on it. It looked like that was where the baby had his baths. "How old are you anyway?" He asked, mainly to himself. "Tess was about four months along back when..." He counted on his fingers. "Ah, I'm too tired. I'll just ask her." His son made another demanding noise, and Lion turned to spot a small refridgerator in one corner opposite the crib, with a microwave on top. "All right, I'm doing it." He informed the squirming bundle. He set his son with his back against the wall, sure even as he was doing it that he was breaking some obscure rule of baby handling etiquette. He grabbed the carton of milk that seemed to be the only thing in there, filled the bottle up, zapped it for forty seconds, then handed the bottle over to the increasingly impatient bundle. The baby kept his gaze on Lion for about ten seconds, before becoming fascinated by his own hand.

Lion sat down against the wall also, and studied the green patterns intensely, as well. "I suppose they altered your prototype DNA already..." He sighed heavily. Although all 'synths of his family were supposed to remain unaltered, as per the normal humans' promise to Ocello, President Soultech would doubtlessly have argued that Tess' baby was more part of **his** family. It was all so unfair... Lion found tears forming in his eyes, and did nothing to stop them. The past three years of his life had been one new nightmare after another. First the world expected him to fight a near-omnipotent force, then his brother had died during the process. He had killed someone he probably would have become friends with in self defense, and had then been too afraid to face what he'd done. He'd run from the law for well over two years, all while being able to use only a small fraction of his rightful power... and that was just the stuff he felt sorry for himself over. He imagined Tess in the delivery room, all alone. Well, maybe her mom had been there, but that was probably it. Although... Given that Leopardano had apparently healed her, he might have been there too. "I hope he was..." Lion whispered, the sorrow dripping into his voice.

The baby looked up at him, while continuing to suck on the bottle. Lion tried to smile down at him. "That's right, babies can pick up on emotions, huh?" Lion made a token effort to wipe his tears away. "Say, what's your name anyway, little guy?"

"His name is Sabre." He looked up to see Tess standing in the doorway, a smile on her face. "And I thought you'd be happy." Sabre made a gesture with his arms that clearly meant "Pick me up!" She lifted him so he could rest his head on her shoulder, where he contentedly continued sucking on the bottle.

"Sabre being short for Sabre Toothed Tiger?" Lion asked. She nodded. He did smile now. "That's excellent. I'm sure Ty is pleased with that." His smile quickly disappeared. "I am happy, it's just... I never thought I'd actually see him. Until yesterday, I never thought I'd see you again either. It's just, so much has happened, and..."

"I know." Tess sat down beside him, and squeezed his hand. "We have a visitor." Lion looked puzzled, but she called out, "Come on in!"

Lion felt his stomach sinking very low as Leopardano entered the room. "Hi." He waved softly. "Oh, don't look so nervous, Lion. You had the good sense to go on the lam when I was really mad at you." He gave them a wry grin.

"It seems someone called and told him President Soultech wouldn't mind him visiting his grandson right now." Tess was smiling too.

"Well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him, anwyay." Leopardano sat down across from them. Lion was still looking at the floor. "Why so glum, Lion?"

Lion held his hands out, as if he was looking for something in them that wasn't there. "I'm still on the lam." He exhaled softly. "I still can't do anything to help. I'm so powerless..."

Leopardano folded his arms, and took on a more serious demeanor. "Not necessarily. I've talked to ten different judges on the subject. Several cameras caught your battle on tape, you know. Nine of them said it was a pretty clear cut case of self defense, even though you started the fight. They obviously used unnecessary force in trying to apprehend you. Seven of the judges also said they thought you were arrested illegally." Now, he looked a little angry. "If you had just come home after that, we probably could have sorted this out years ago. You both could have been spared some misery, and Sabre sure would have been better off being born later on..." Tess made a little noise of protest. "Hey, I know. From what I've heard, he's a great baby. Good sleeper and all that. I'm just saying, you two made it harder on yourselves."

"I know I did." Lion sighed more heavily than ever. "It's just... I was too afraid. Afraid of spending my life in jail, I guess."

Leopardano smiled again. "As if someone who just tore Habeeb a new one could be detained against his will." Lion looked up in surprise. "Tess told me what you've been doing for the past three days. Since you made it back here alive, I assume you defeated Habeeb."

"Three days..." Lion looked a little dazed now. "Good Lord, it feels like I first met Tempo about ten years ago." Now, he smiled again. "Yeah, we beat Habeeb good. I'd be surprised if he still remembers his own name. Though Tempo deserves a lot of the credit too."

"I saw the World Destroyer shooting into space." Leopardano nodded in satisfaction. "Anyway, you could always have done what you did **after** the trial, if that's what it came down to. However, I think that saving the entire world might reduce your sentence quite a bit, if you were to even receive one. Keep doing what you're doing, and when the alien is dead, come back home."

"Sounds good." Lion sniffled in relief. "Boy, have I missed Mom's cooking."

"That, and nearly two years of school." Lion winced at that reminder. "But if you go every year instead of every other, you'll still graduate on time." Now, Leopardano looked worried. "So, I hear you two saw Jaguarena today." They nodded vigorously. "She disappeared on me over a year ago, and I never had any clue why. I can't imagine why she would be working with Habeeb."

"I can't either." Lion shrugged. "All she told me was that Habeeb had something she valued highly."

"But that doesn't make any sense." Leopardano protested. "I don't think she **had** anything important enough to her that Habeeb could use it as a hostage. She's not very sentimental, and she wasn't seeing anyone... She was just living in an apartment downtown. It's not like she had a house or anything..."

"Well..." Lion ventured a guess. "If it's been a year, I guess she could've had a baby too."

"I doubt it." Tess snorted. "She's not the type to take the chance we did. That, and she was looking hot as she ever was earlier today."

Leopardano frowned thoughtfully. "Well, anyway, she should be free from Habeeb's control now. If you see her again Lion, tell her to come home right away, even if just for a minute. She's not in any legal trouble."

"Well, she didn't pound twenty Soultech troops into the dirt." Lion smiled.

"All right." Leopardano groaned as he stood back up. "We've got something to go on, now, anyway. It's really not a lot of fun when all three of your kids aren't around."

"Yeah..." Lion looked pensively at Sabre. "I can imagine." Leopardano gave Sabre a quick kiss on the forehead, then embraced Lion tightly as he stood up too. "Aw, Dad..." Lion protested lamely.

"That's from your mother." Leopardano grinned. "Now, go kick some alien butt, and try to enjoy the trip. I should leave this house before I overstay my welcome."

"You can stay as long as you want." Tess assured. "I think the time has come to stand up to my father."

"Good." He nodded. "But I don't want to cause trouble unneccesarily." He headed for the door.

"Oh, wait a minute!" A thought occurred to Lion. "Dad, are you sure you don't want to come along?"

Leopardano just grinned as he was closing the door. "Son, you're **way** stronger than I am."

Sabre was asleep again, and Tess gently laid him back down in the crib. "I think I'll stay here too." She said softly. "I don't want to tell the alien to stop the battle because it's his nap time." She explained.

"Well, I'm going to miss you, but I can't fault that logic." Lion chuckled.

She walked over and looped her arm in his, slowly pulling him back toward her bedroom. "Hey, you've accomplished quite a lot already, in just three days."

"Yeah, but we still have a lot left to do. The alien is hardly the only problem."

"Well then, you should get some rest, huh?"

"Maybe," he bent down to kiss her once more, "but not yet."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" She tried to sound exasperated, but giggles gave her away. "You're insatiable!"

"Damn straight, darlin'." He picked her up, and carried her through the door to the bedroom. "I need to get a **lot** more tired before I can go to sleep..."

.

"It's my joy...  
...to be able to believe in you.  
This storm blows...  
...to remind us both of the love...  
...that we share." - Record of Lodoss War - opening song

(Nanaki's note: So, as of right now, 5:05 a.m. on September 28th, 2008, that's all I got. Chapters 55, 56, and the first part of 57 **did** exist at one point, but they don't anymore. For that, you can thank America West airlines, who managed to trash my original computer, even though it was in a hard shell suitcase, wrapped in towels and blankets, plus I even opened it up and filled the inside with socks. And there I was thinking keeping the computer with me during the move from the Everglades to Grand Canyon would be **safer** than mailing it 2,200 miles. Though considering that three of the eleven boxes I did mail here never arrived, I was probably screwed either way. So, before I can write anything new, I have to rewrite two and a half chapters. The fact that ninety nine percent of this story is pure first draft, never edited, should be an indication of how little I care for rewriting. But, I'm going to give it my best shot, because I do like having this story at the top of the CT section all the time.)


	55. Crono and Kash

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 55: Crono and Kash**

By Nanaki

_"My name is... Well, you can call me Kash. I'm Schala's son, if that means anything to you. I could really use your help. Laria has gone back in time to before I was born to try to kill my mother. To stop her from ever becoming a Hunter, and to prevent me from ever existing..."_

- Kash, The Trials of the King Chapter 11: A New Mission

.

1018 A.D. (Elosia Reckoning), Kalendra System

Kash was leaning back in the pilot's seat of the Epoch IV, making pretty good progress on the book he was reading. This was already starting to become a routine, as this was the fourth alternate universe he'd been to. The unfortunate part was, in his judgment, Levasos and Laria would definitely have accomplished their goals in all three of the previous universes if he hadn't interfered. If that continued to be the case in the majority of the universes he visited, it effectively meant that Kash was going to have to spend his entire life, and possibly several more after this one, just battling all the various alternate Levasoses.

He hoped it wouldn't turn out that way. Right now, he was still having fun with this decidedly odd quest. At the moment, the ship was making its way past one of the gas giants of the Kalendra system, while Crono and Nadia were snoozing in the other seats, looking amazingly peaceful, considering what they'd been through in the past few weeks. Lucca had opted to stay behind and look after her injured husband. The ship was on autopilot until they passed the system's Kuiper Belt, though in a few more trips, Kash would probably have things memorized to the point where it wouldn't be necessary.

Suddenly, an enormous growling noise emanated from Kash's right, and he briefly wondered if the ship had been grazed by a meteor. But then Crono began to stir, and he realized what had happened. "Good Lord, Crono! Was that your stomach, or did the sun just go supernova on us?"

"That was him all right." Nadia groaned. "That's the reason I can never sleep in late."

"Oh, she's a pretty heavy sleeper when she wants to be." Crono said, rubbing his eyes. "Mainly when she's not in the mood."

"That's because you're ALWAYS in the mood, Crono." Nadia shot back.

"Well, I have the most beautiful woman anyone has ever seen for a wife. I can't help it." Crono flashed her a toothy grin.

"Smooth talker." Nadia mumbled, rolling over in the seat.

Kash couldn't help chuckling at that. He hadn't heard THIS particular exchange before. "Ah, Mom always said you two were larger than life. Now I know she was right." He kept smiling.

"Oh yeah? Schala said that about us?" Crono raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised. We never have gotten to spend much time with her."

"Which is probably for the best." Nadia added. "She IS my ancestor, after all. We don't want to mess up her timeline and accidentaly erase me from existence." Now she rolled back over on the rear seat to look at Kash. "I suppose that makes YOU my ancestor too."

"Nope." Kash said easily. "I have a different father than the rest of my brothers and sisters. Well, my theoretical brothers and sisters, anway. I'm an only child." Crono and Nadia were both frowning at him now, clearly baffled. "Let's see... Probably the first thing I should explain is that, I'm not from this universe." The baffled looks remained. "Are either of you familiar with the concept of quantum physics?" The baffled looks didn't change. "I should've had this talk while Lucca was around." Kash muttered. "All right, the most important facet of quantum physics is that there are an infinite number of alternate universes in existence. Some are virtually identical to yours. As in, maybe just one planet has one more blade of grass or grain of sand. In other universes, Lavoids never came into being at all."

"Hey, let's go live in that one." Crono's grin returned.

Kash snorted. "As if any Lavoid but a Queen is any concern to you, Crono."

"Oh?" Crono raised both eyebrows now. "I take it you know my little secret then."

"I'd hardly call it 'little'. I've already seen you send Laria running off with her spikes between her legs three times now."

"Sounds great." Crono's grin broadened. "Though I'd like to kill her if at all possible."

"I wish." Kash sighed. "But it's not. Even if we could take her down, her sisters would just go back in time and whisk her away. But Laria is just a distraction from the real threat anyway. Levasos is the one we have to worry about."

"Why? Is he some kind of King Lavoid?" Crono asked.

"No, he's a Keisegn. A Class B1, by Hunter classification. In terms of raw power, he's nothing compared to Laria. But in terms of skill, willpower, and intelligence... Well, he's quite possibly the most dangerous mad scientist the Lavoid race has ever produced."

"Just what is he planning that's so dangerous?" Nadia wondered.

"In a nutshell, he wants to become one with the universe." Kash said. "Why, I'm not entirely sure. But I think it's because he wants to be able to control everything. The infuriating thing is, HOW he plans to do that has been different in all three of the universes I've been to so far. In the most recent one, he was planning to create an enormous black hole, large enough to eventually consume the entire universe, with himself at the very bottom. I don't think that one would have worked, but we didn't give him the chance to find out, anyway."

"Becoming one with the universe..." Nadia looked out the canopy for a minute. "Sheesh, what happened to just sucking the life out of planets?"

"Ah, for the good old days of predictable villainy, eh?" Kash grinned. "Anyway, I have no idea what his plan might be in this universe. It'd help if you guys told me everything you know about this universe's Lavos, along with any other Lavoids you may have had contact with."

.

Kash had bitten off a way bigger bite than he thought, and they were almost out of Kalendra's Kuiper Belt when Crono was finally wrapping up. "Good Lord, that's about enough to fill twenty novels." Kash whistled.

"Tell me about it." Crono groaned. "Sometimes I think the universe is out to get me."

"It shouldn't have happened like this." Kash frowned. "Based on how many epic, paradigm shattering events you two have been through, I'm pretty sure this universe is a confluence."

"Which is?" Nadia prompted.

"A universe that hasn't quite split off from its most similar alternates, so their events can leach into this one. And it's even more complicated than it sounds."

"That would explain my memories of Rakin and Corea..." Nadia said softly.

"Honey, I'm pretty sure that was just a dream." Crono said gently, but an angry look instantly appeared on her face.

"No, no it wasn't, Crono." She turned away from him, and saw a questioning look on Kash's face. "There was a period a few years ago, where our usual brood disappeared, and we only had two children, named Rakin and Corea. After the Valiod crisis was over, I was glad to get our usual bunch back, but every once in a while, I really miss those two..." Nadia shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry. It's silly to miss people who never existed in the current timeline..."

"No," Kash shook his head as well, "I understand all too well."

"Besides, Crono," Nadia continued, "I have no memory of the Shadows crisis you're always going on about, with its psycho Gaspar, Thiek C. Smada, and Robo turning into some evil berserker called Lazarus. Yet, I don't try to convince you that it never happened."

"Okay, true enough." Crono admitted. "I just find it odd that you're the ONLY one who has memories of Valiod, whereas a lot of us remember The Shadows, or Nikades, or Salashan, or about half a dozen other 'flavor of the week' type villains..."

Nadia snorted. "And I find it odd that you're still trying to argue with me about this, when you should know by now that you NEVER win an argument with me."

"Good point." Crono smiled, and shut his trap.

"So what about you, Kash?" Nadia asked. "How'd you end up going on a quest to save every universe in existence from Levasos?"

"I can't tell you, I'm sorry to say." When he saw their raised eyebrows, he elaborated. "Well, it's not so much that I can't tell YOU, but if I do, there's a chance, however slight, that you might tell my mother."

"What would be so bad about that?" Crono wondered.

"If she puts all the pieces of the puzzle together..." Kash shook his head. "She'll be devastated. She'll completely blame herself for something that was in no way her fault. And... I probably shouldn't have even said that much. I'm sorry, I know it seems strange." Just then, two sharp beeps sounded from the Epoch's control console. "All right, we're clear of the Kuiper Belt. Next stop, Tejran!" Kash's right index finger drifted toward the warp button.

Just before his finger made contact, the field of stars ahead and to the right of them began to warp. After the stars stretched and changed colors for a few seconds, a larger spaceship suddenly appeared. It too stretched and warped for a second, before settling into a solid shape. "What is THAT?" Crono wondered. "Is it... another ship?"

"Not just another ship..." Kash said quietly. "It's the Weatherlight. And..." Kash closed his eyes, apparently concentrating on something. "Jack and Sarah are both on board!" His eyes lit up with excitement as they opened again. "There's no mistaking THOSE energy signatures!"

"Good news, I take it?" Nadia prodded.

"Considering how fast they found us, GREAT news." Kash nodded. "Well now, this could change everything..."

.

"So what you have to ask yourself is, what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs... see miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?" - Graham Hess, _Signs_

(Nanaki's note: Okay, sorry that took so long, but I've been making good progress lately, so you can expect to see more chapters here shortly. You probably have Chrono Trigger DS to thank for getting me back in the writing mood. First off, I realized that I have yet to thank Paul Nathans for rescuing chapters 52-54. If he hadn't kept those old files around, I would have had to rewrite them as well, and, as I said at the end of chapter 53, I'm not sure I could have done that. I owe him big time for that.

I also have to thank Mox Jet, who not only gave me permission to use his main characters, but said something to the effect of, "Having Jack appear in a story of _yours_ would be a great honor." Maybe so, but Mox, the greatest honor a fanfic author can receive is to have a fan consider their story to be just as real as the one in the game itself. You did that for me, and I can't thank you enough. I hope I portray Jack in an appropriately awesome way when the time comes. Then again, you could come back to the Icy community in time to co-author those chapters with me, which is what I was planning in the first place. Here's hoping...

Yet more notes. The whole point of the "confluence" concept is to easily explain away any continuity conflicts between myself and any of the other World of Imagination authors (Cain, Mox Jet, Nightsong, and Paul Nathans). My stories already had to be in a separate universe from Cain's, but now any continuity errors with the others can be explained away as taking place in an alternate universe that IS attached to the confluence. (Although it was implied here that Valiod did exist in my universe for a time...) As far as The Shadows, Nikades, and Salashan are concerned, I expect that anyone who frequents Icy's (or used to) will be familiar with the works of Keith Adams and Jerm (If not, you should be). Salashan however, was the main villain in my now-lost story, "Chrono Trigger: Zero Hour", which was freaking awesome. Salashan defied the Queen Mother's direct orders, and went back in time to kill Lavos immediately after he landed on Elosia. Thus, Jack was directly erased from existence, and Magus indirectly (via Levasos, also erased). Salashan then immediately killed Crono, Marle, and Ayla for good measure, causing a massive time wave. Thus, the heroes have to time travel away from New Year's Eve in 1,000 A.D. to discover why they don't exist anymore in this new timeline. As if that weren't enough, a post-Tempo Trigger Schala got thrown into the mix too, and I was having even more fun with her chapters than I was with Crono's. I almost CRIED while I was writing the scene where Schala discovers that Greven is alive in this new timeline. But, thanks to America West airlines trashing my original computer, every chapter I had done at that time was lost, and as of yet, I just haven't been able to summon the will to rewrite it. I probably never will. My Inu Yasha fic, "Love of an Honorable Ruler", suffered a similar fate...

Even more notes. Finally, some may have noticed that I've gone back to my old method of typing words I want to emphasize in ALL CAPS, rather than using _italics_ or **bold** print. For some reason, I find that italics or bold disrupt the flow of the story more than the all caps method, almost as if they're putting more emphasis on a word than I want. So, the classic Mount Woe way of EMPHASIZING has returned. Look for more chapters here soon.)


	56. What She Values

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 56: What She Values**

By Nanaki

70 Million B.C.

Habeeb wearily opened his bleary eyes, and immediately wished he hadn't. Either the half of his combat visor that was still there was completely blackened by fire, or his left eye wasn't working. Through his right eye, he could only stare up at some oddly shaped lights hanging from a stone ceiling, a little too bright for comfort. A dull pain permeated his entire body, and it immediately turned into a very sharp pain when he tried to raise his head, and didn't succeed. As Habeeb tested out his extremeties in an equally painful manner, it was clear that he was strapped down very tight. "Urgh..." He let out a painful groan. "Someone tell me I'm not where I think I am."

"I'm afraid you are." Leng's voice drifted across the chamber.

"Leng, please tell me you just busted in here to rescue us." Habeeb said, but he already knew that couldn't be the case. Leng would never do anything that stupid.

"No, we're all here in Aybabtu, tied down tight." Leng let out a sigh. "Though I have to say, so far it doesn't seem to be the hellscape of torture devices and corpses that we expected."

"Oh, just give ol' Levy boy some time." Habeeb let out a bitter laugh, then immediately regretted it. He clearly had some broken ribs.

"Time is clearly on his side." Leng said dryly. "No, I think if he wanted us dead, then we'd be dead already."

"He clearly doesn't care what kind of shape we're in, though." Habeeb observed. "It's obvious no one's tended to the injuries he inflicted."

"Well, we certainly wouldn't have been this magnanimous in victory." Leng admitted. "Let's just be grateful that we may have another chance at some point. If we even need one."

"Just what is that supposed to mean?" Habeeb demanded.

"Based on what father said, we may have been the ones who were mistaken back when-"

"You can't trust anything he says!" Habeeb interrupted. "I shouldn't have to remind you, of all people."

"I'm not so sure now." Leng sounded a bit confused himself. "We've had one conversation already, and I'm ninety nine percent sure that Levasos isn't using any form of mind control on him."

"But that can't be possible! He killed everyone, Leng! Twice!" Habeeb closed his aching eyes.

"I know it." Leng said quietly. "Father seems to have decided that the sacrifice was worth it. For what reasons, I don't know. But I do know, there's only one reason I can think of that Levasos brought us here and hasn't already put us under some kind of mind control. He wants us to join him, of our own free will."

"Fat chance of THAT." Moogoo's groggy voice could be heard from the table on Habeeb's left. "So, are we ALL here?"

"Not quite." Leng allowed himself a small smile as he reported that news. "Seraphina must have been rescued, or we'd be noticing signs of her absence already. She might be with Billy, but I'm pretty sure that she's with the last knight."

"Well then, there's still reason to hope, at least." Moogoo sounded relieved.

"I'm glad Seraphina's still free, but how are WE going to get out of here?" Habeeb demanded.

"I don't think we're doing anything while we're beat up and tied down like this." Leng grimaced. "Just be patient, and keep your eyes open for..." Leng drifted off as he heard raised voices coming through what had to be a very heavy door.

"I'm sorry, but Master Levasos has given strict orders that no one but he is to enter this room..."

"Feel free to go tell him what I'm doing." The voice of an obviously angry young woman replied. "Because he promised me something in here, and he'd better keep that promise."

"Uh oh." Habeeb groaned.

"Friend of yours?" Leng asked.

"Hardly. It's Jaguarena." The words were barely out of his mouth when the heavy metal door leapt off its hinges with a deafening bang, then went flying through the room. It crashed into the back wall with an even louder noise, then clanged to the floor along with a rain of pulverized brick. Habeeb saw Jaguarena striding up on his side scarcely a second later.

"Give it back!" She growled, her eyes more angry than he'd ever seen them.

"Give what back?" Habeeb asked, and instantly regretted it. Jaguarena drove her elbow down into his ribs, clearly making contact with a broken one. Habeeb would have curled up into the fetal position, but the straps held him in place, and pain shot through the rest of his body as well.

"In case you haven't noticed Habeeb, I'm on the winning team now. Not fighting against my own existence any longer." Jaguarena growled. "My only condition for joining Levasos was that I get it back! Trust me, if by some chance I can't beat it out of you, he most assuredly will. This is your one chance to do it the easy way."

"I... I don't have it!" Habeeb wheezed. The only way he could think of to save himself was to convince Jaguarena that he didn't have it on him now, but that he did know where it was.

Jaguarena drove her elbow into his ribs again, even harder this time. "Yes you do!" She shouted, and tears were beginning to form in her eyes. She hated that he was going to be able to see that, but she didn't think she could stop them. "You have to have it! You never would have risked not having it on you, because then I would have found it!"

"If I do give it back to you... Then I'm dead." Habeeb wheezed.

"You're dead if you don't!!!" Jaguarena roared. A brilliant yellow glow began emanating from her body, and within a few seconds it was so bright that it hurt to even look in her direction. "GIVE IT BACK!!!"

"Why don't we all calm down..." A new voice could be heard from the doorway. Habeeb couldn't actually see down to the opening, but he didn't have to see the speaker to know it was Levasos. He walked forward calmly, and put a hand on Jaguarena's shoulder. "A promise is a promise. I will get it for you, right now." Jaguarena took a few steps back, and Levasos took her place at Habeeb's side. "Now Habeeb, are you even able to give it up willingly, or do I need to have my medics begin the mother of all cavity searches?" He flashed a wicked grin.

"Habeeb, it's pretty clear that she's done following your orders." Moogoo spoke up. "Might as well generate a little good will by cooperating."

"Damn it..." Habeeb whispered. "The cord around my neck..." He said a little louder.

"Well, I guess you already cooperated a little." Levasos observed. "You didn't swallow it!"

"I knew you'd just get it out the hard way." Habeeb said dryly.

"Very true." Levasos chuckled. Then he reached into Habeeb's robes, and yanked something free a moment later. The cord around Habeeb's neck gave free with an audible snap. "Would this be it?" He held up a tiny, dark blue bottle, with a cork stopper. It looked like it would only be able to hold a few ounces, at most.

"That's it." Habeeb sighed. Now, he was truly helpless.

"Is there any kind of deadman's lock?" Levasos raised an eyeridge. "Will it self destruct if opened?" Behind him, he could hear Jaguarena gasp.

"No." Habeeb shook his head, very slightly.

"You realize, if you're lying, I will kill you. That is, if the young lady doesn't beat me to the punch." Habeeb shook his head again. "Fine. Do I have to do anything after I open it?"

"No." Habeeb wheezed, his ribs still aching. "The contents will return to their original state as soon as it's opened."

"Well then," Levasos put his thumb and index finger on either side of the stopper, "Here we go." As soon as he pulled the stopper off, a burst of blue sparks flew up into the air, and as they dissipated, both of Levasos' eyeridges went up in surprise. "Wow, that was really mean, Habeeb. Remind me to try it on YOU later."

Floating in midair, semi-transparent, was a human uterus, with ovaries folded neatly on top. After hovering in place for a few seconds, it began to drift back over to Jaguarena, who just stared, more tears welling up in her eyes. The ghostly organ drifted back into her lower torso without slowing at all, and Jaguarena let out a surprised exclamation as it disappeared into her. "Oh! I thought it would hurt..." She dropped down to her knees, right hand going to her stomach. "Thank God..." Levasos didn't say a word or move a muscle. He had just been witness to something extremely private, and he could only imagine how furious he'd be if someone tried something like that on him. He briefly wondered if he should teleport Jaguarena back to the room he'd given her, but then she looked up at him. "I'm... kind of surprised by my own reaction, to be honest." He could see the trace of a smile on her face. "It's not exactly like I'm eager to put it to use..."

"Since Lavoids can reproduce both sexually and asexually, I think I can understand, if just a bit." He returned her smile. "It's one thing to not want to be a parent right now, but quite another to not even have the option, ever."

Jaguarena nodded, and stood back up. "So, what are you going to do with these three?" She sniffled.

"Well, much as I'm sure you want to take your revenge on Habeeb, I need to keep the three of them alive, for a while anyway. If all else fails, I can still use them as bait." Levasos allowed what he thought of as his "cliche villain grin" to creep onto his face.

"Bait for who?" Jaguarena wondered out loud.

"Seraphina." Levasos answered bluntly, observing the angry look on Leng's face with satisfaction. "Capturing her would be the easiest way to take care of the opposition... But we shouldn't talk about my plans around them." He nodded toward the open door, where a broken hinge was protruding.

Jaguarena quickly left the room, glad to be away from Habeeb. Once she felt they were far enough down the hall to be out of earshot, she turned back to Levasos. "All right, before we go into detail about your plan, there are a few things I need to get straight."

"Shoot." Levasos shrugged, and she was again surprised by just how human he seemed.

"Well, I agreed to come along with you because your spiel about wanting to end suffering did sound very noble..." She forced herself to look him in the eye, not that she could discern a lot from the solid orange color. "But as of yet, I haven't heard you deny that you caused Armageddon. That inflicted more than a little suffering, didn't it?"

"It certainly did." Levasos nodded. "But it was unfortunately necessary. Did you know, that in the years leading up to Armageddon, humanity had stockpiled enough nukes and matter/antimatter bombs to vaporise the entire solar system? Not just this planet, but the whole system. It was completely ridiculous. That's what the Idiot Brothers in there were fighting for three years ago, in 2600. The right to destroy the solar system." He shook his head.

"Good Lord..." Jaguarena whispered. "But still, couldn't you have prevented that disaster AND left more than twenty four humans alive?"

"It was possible." Levasos admitted. "But as long as I was saving humanity from itself, I decided to create a better humanity than what had been before. The twenty four I spared were the absolute best and brightest of the race, and their legacy certainly lives on in your time." Jaguarena raised an eyebrow now, so he elaborated. "Over forty million people live in Lohkiarn in your time, and you could have easily spread out all over the continent by now. But instead, you all stay together, and aside from a few inevitable exceptions, you get along great! On old Earth, any city with over a million residents tended to have a lot of problems."

"What's old Earth?" Jaguarena wondered.

"The one true human homeworld." Levasos explained. "The only place where humans evolved without the helping hand of a Lavoid. Where the Queen Mother was born..." He trailed off as a frown of puzzlement formed on Jaguarena's face. "It doesn't matter now." He grinned. "And if my plan succeeds, it never will matter."

Jaguarena shrugged. "Before we get to the plan, I have one other important question." Levasos merely raised an eyeridge. "Why would someone as insanely powerful as you even need my help?"

"Need... I probably don't." Levasos admitted. "But one doesn't NEED to have friends in order to want them. Besides, you probably are one of the top five strongest people on the planet right now, myself included. Plus, I'm hoping you can talk your brother into joining our cause."

"I think he will, once he understands the whole situation." She nodded. "But even so, I don't like the idea of being an expendable pawn. I'm afraid you're just going to use my power up, then cast me aside..."

"Oh, Levasos would never do that!" A genial voice came from farther down the hall. "Deep down, he's a big softie." Jaguarena turned to see a tall man with long, dark blue hair, a very pointed widow's peak, and equally pointy ears.

Levasos grinned. "Jaguarena, allow me to introduce The ArchMagus." The blue haired man bowed, though just a bit. "How's the training going?"

"Fantastic." The ArchMagus flashed a toothy grin, and Jaguarena observed that his canine teeth were on the verge of being fangs. "I've got the basics down on everything you wanted me to study. It's just refining the details at this point. Though casting spells with an MDI over 25,000 is a little more draining than I'd like it to be."

"Hmm... I'll stop by to give you some pointers in a little while. Right now, I need to check up on the construction progress..." With that, Levasos teleported away, leaving the other two alone in the hallway.

"So, 'The ArchMagus' huh?" Jaguarena gave him a quizzical look. "Your parents really must have hated you to stick you with a moniker like that."

"Oh, my parents hated me all right, but that's not my real name." He said bluntly. "The name my mother gave me is Janus, which is a name signifying beginnings and new possibilities. In my life, it's turned out to be mostly ironic, so I tend to go by other names."

"Oh? How has it been ironic?" She wondered.

"Heh." The ArchMagus flashed his toothy grin again. "If you really want an answer to that, I hope you have a few hours free."

Jaguarena looked around the cold stone hallways, seeing nothing else to occupy her attention. Besides, if she played her cards right, this guy could turn into a great source of information about Levasos. "Yeah," she smiled sweetly, "I think I do."

.

"A name reflects its owner's nature. But, what if the name is merely a fake? If something goes by a false name, would it mean that thing is fake? False by nature? Is that what it would mean...?" - Gilbert Durandal, _Gundam Seed Destiny_

(Nanaki's note: So, now the second rewrite chapter is done. For some reason, I have a feeling that both chapter 55 and 56 aren't as good as the first versions were, when they were written back in 2005. However, since those first versions have also been lost SINCE 2005, I have no real proof of that. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. There were a lot of cryptic hints in this one, but none of them were my "weird for weird's sake" kind of clues. They all will be explained at some point. Look for more chapters here very soon.)


	57. Recovery

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 57: Recovery**

By Nanaki

The End of Time

Schala's eyes opened slowly, and for a minute she wondered where she was, only seeing swirling clouds of a dark mist overhead. But then she remembered they had actually stayed overnight at the end of time, and she stretched out in the bed. 'Well, here's hoping we accomplish as much today as we did yesterday,' She thought, then immediately felt bad for using the word "we". The victory yesterday belonged almost entirely to Tempo and Lion. At best, she had been a satisfactory decoy to keep Moogoo occupied. Then Ertai had run off and gotten himself killed... 'Wait a second. Levasos said "Ertai lost", not "I killed Ertai".' She realized. Maybe he'd managed to get away at the end. She'd keep hoping, until she saw some evidence to the contrary, anyway.

She threw the sheets back, then swung her feet out onto the floor. As soon as her right foot touched down, there was an audible "clunk". "Wait a minute. Toes don't go 'clunk'!" Schala realized, and she almost laughed at the humorous way her mind had phrased the thought. However, once she looked down at her feet, she didn't feel like laughing. The big toe of her right foot was a light grey color, and appeared to be made of stone. After she curled her right leg up into her lap, she discovered that it certainly FELT like stone, as well. 'What is going on here?' She wondered. She knew that it was theoretically possible to turn living flesh into stone using magic, but she had never actually seen it done. Besides, who would have been doing that in the middle of the night, and so precisely that it only hit her big toe? "Well, that's a new one on me." She said out loud.

"Huah... Is it morning already?" She heard the groan from Tempo's bed.

"It's probably the middle of the night, based on when we went to sleep." Schala answered. "But we were all pretty tired after the battle..." Suddenly, she remembered Moogoo's wavy blue beam of energy that hurt so much, and the way the nooze had been so sluggish afterward. Plus, Lion had said in the Gate room later that the Lavoid energy inside her was faint... Though she didn't have any real proof, Schala was pretty sure she knew what had caused that stone toe. If so, it wasn't likely to stop there... "Well, hell." She stated simply, doing her best to stay calm. She had done more than enough crying in front of Moogoo and Habeeb, as far as she was concerned.

"What's wrong?" She heard Tempo's footsteps heading in her direction, and looked up. She let her right foot hit the floor again, and it was clear that Tempo noticed the "clunk" as well. "What...? What happened?"

"I'm not completely sure. But if I had to guess, I'd say the nooze has some sort of emergency preservation function that activates when its energy runs low, and it starts with the extremeties." She tapped the stone toe on the floor once more. "That is preferable to just letting the flesh rot, now that I think about it... But it also means that I don't have much time left before I turn into a statue."

Tempo frowned, then turned to look at the swirling mist beyond the end of the cobblestones, seeming to mull something over in his mind. He stayed that way for a few seconds before turning back to Schala. "Well, that settles it. We need to take you to the Soultech commanders in my time, right away."

"But... Aren't you in a fair amount of trouble back in your time?" She asked him with a slight grin on her face.

"Yep, I sure am." He admitted, also smiling. "But I don't plan on running away from it forever, and now seems as good a time as any to face the music."

"A noble intent, but I'm afraid it won't do any good." They both whirled around to find Keldon standing back at the base of the torch pillar. "Oh, and by the way, Garin changed reality after your fight, so now it never happened. Guess that was a freebie."

"What do you mean, he changed reality?" Tempo demanded.

"I mean exactly that. He's obviously extremely powerful, and, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with Levasos. Very curious..." Keldon frowned in thought.

"What IS he?" Tempo wondered, and not for the first time.

"Why do you say it won't do any good?" Schala asked, somewhat apprehensive.

"Because, that which is destroyed by Lavoid energy, can only be restored by Lavoid energy." Keldon said simply.

Suddenly, Schala remembered what Ertai had said right after Greven was killed: "Nooooooo!!!! The wavelength she used! It's impossible to bring him back!"

Plus her mother's smug response: "That's pretty much correct. Without Lavos' energy, he's gone for good."

Schala realized she really hadn't been paying too much attention back then. The clear implication was that Zeal COULD have restored Greven to life using Lavos' energy, not that she ever WOULD have, of course. But it seemed that Lavos himself had done it, in a very twisted way.

"Yes, I should have realized that." Schala finally said. "And even to charge up the nooze again... In both cases, it sounds like Levasos is the one I need to see." She smiled nervously. "I don't think that's gonna go too well..."

"There is one other object charged with Lavoid energy in this world." Keldon grinned. Schala's head instantly snapped around to stare at him. "That sword Levasos calls 'the Masamune' has absorbed quite a bit of his power..."

"Levasos has it?!" Schala growled. That sword was the mutated form of her dagger, which had been her father's dagger... "He has no right." She stated coldly. But, the dagger had been morphed into a sword by Lavos' energy, and now Levasos had been using it... It did indeed sound like it would be brimming with Lavoid power.

"Levasos DID have it, but now he doesn't seem to want it near him." Keldon shrugged. "He does have some of his best underlings guarding it though. It won't be easy to obtain."

"Leave that part to me and Lion." Tempo broke in, a dangerous looking smile on his face.

"So where is the Masamune located, anyway?" Schala asked.

"In the time Levasos has chosen as his 'headquarters', so to speak. 70 million B.C." Keldon replied. "He has taken great care to ensure that no Gates lead to that time, so you'll have to wait until I'm finished with the Skyshroud Ranger."

"How long will that take?" Tempo wondered.

"A couple hours, tops." He smiled, and began to head over to the stone walkway where the ship was docked.

"Well, we'll have to wait for Lion anyway." Tempo turned back to Schala. "I can pretty much guarantee that he didn't get to sleep as early as we did."

"Oh, there's no 'pretty much' about it." Schala grinned. "This thing doesn't seem to be spreading, not that I can see anyway." She tapped her stone toe on the floor again. "A couple hours shouldn't hurt."

"A couple hours 'til what?" A sleepy voice drifted over from Silva's bed.

"Until we're ready to go after Levasos." Tempo responded easily.

"Huh." Silva sat up in bed, putting her feet on the floor. "Just like that? No training or anything?"

Tempo shrugged. "You know I do my best work under the influence of last minute panic."

"That's the only time you do ANY work." Silva responded.

"True enough." Tempo admitted. "But so far, Lion and I have been able to trash everyone stupid enough to take on both of us at once, so I'm gonna hope that continues to be the case. As long as Levasos gives us some inept flunkies to warm up on, it should go just fine." Schala wanted to warn him that it wasn't that simple, but his casual confidence was infectious, so she stayed quiet.

Silva stood up and stretched. "Well I don't know about anyone else, but I could sure use a shower, and some breakfast."

"A thought occurs. I don't see any showers around here." Tempo observed.

"Which is fine, because I want a change of clothes too." Silva looked at him pointedly.

"So you're saying we gotta go home." Tempo sighed.

"Yeah, and not to my house." Silva responded. "Since I disappeared without a trace for a SECOND time, I'm sure my parents will put me under virtual house arrest as soon as I do go home again."

"Like my dad won't?" Tempo asked.

"There's a much better chance that HE won't be home." Silva pointed out. "Besides, where else are we gonna go?"

"Well..." Tempo thought about it. "We could head over to Sowell's..."

"He won't be up yet. And his parents would definitely talk to our parents."

"Well then, we could get a motel room..." Tempo didn't sound very enthusiastic about this.

"A motel room just to take a shower? You got that kind of cash to waste?" Silva was already shaking her head no.

"Well, I guess not." Tempo frowned. "Let's just forget it. This sounds like more of a hassle than it's worth."

"Tempo!" She scolded him. "I. Want. A. Shower! I'm filthy after that battle yesterday! Plus the walk through the desert the day before."

"We could wait until Lion gets here, and go to his place..." Tempo tried one last, desperate option.

"Oh my God! Tempo!" Silva groaned in exasperation, and Schala couldn't help chuckling a little. It had been obvious from the start that Tempo wasn't going to win this one. "For all we know, the people in his time might not even have showers. He'll tell us they use 'sonic dirt agitators' or something like that."

"All right, all right!" Tempo threw up his hands in defeat. "Let's just go. Dealing with my dad will be easier than listening to your nagging."

"Tempo, you smooth talker!" Silva smirked. "Keep this up and you might just charm the pants right off me. Besides..." Silva's smirk got even bigger. "After that dream you had, you probably need a shower more than I do."

"The dream?" Tempo looked surprised. "You mean me telling you about that wasn't just a dream?"

"'Fraid not." Silva folded her arms.

Tempo was suddenly very glad his long T-shirt reached down past the crotch of his pants. He took a few long experimental steps. "Well, crap. But with a dream like that, it probably couldn't have been avoided." Now he turned back to look at Silva, and the smirk on his face rivaled the one on hers. "Besides, that dream was basically a flashback, my brain replaying something it had already done."

"Which means...?" Silva prodded, even though she had the feeling she'd just walked into a trap.

"Which means... I totally nailed your sister!!" Tempo grinned.

"I suppose I walked right into that one." Silva said flatly. "But you can't fool me, buddy. You didn't 'nail' her, you two made sweet love that night."

Tempo's grin dimmed a bit. "That night, yeah. But there were a few occassions where 'nailing' is definitely what happened."

"All right, that's enough!" Silva held up a hand. "I don't need to hear any more. How Rena put up with you, I'll never know."

"It's cause she loooooved me." Tempo said in a cutesy tone, though the fact that he had to put it in the past tense took him most of the way out of his good mood.

While Schala had been paying attention to the conversation, against her better judgment, she now found her thoughts drifting back to Greven. 'Wish I'd met him a little sooner.' She thought wistfully. Although, given how they'd started out, that might have just given them a lot more time to argue.

"So, are we going or what?" Silva gestured impatiently toward the pillars of light.

"All right." Tempo sat back down on his bed, and started to put his shoes on. "Schala, want to come along?" He looked up. "It's not a mission of dire importance or anything, but Locorn in the morning is way prettier than... this."

"Well, why not?" Schala shrugged. She pulled on her own stockings, then stepped into her shoes. It didn't feel like the stone toe would hinder her walking much... yet. "I probably shouldn't be sitting in the dark by myself right now anyway."

"I know what you mean." Tempo said gently. Then, the three walked up to the pillar of light that led back to 1995, stepping inside one by one without excitement. 'This time travel bit is getting to be routine.' Tempo thought.

.

1995 A.D.

Back in 1995, daylight was just a somewhat light blue area on the eastern end of a still starlit sky. "Man, I'm never up this early." Tempo observed. "Unless I haven't gone to bed yet."

"Or unless you've set your alarm because you want to watch saturday morning cartoons." Silva added.

"You know me too well." Tempo said simply. The cold morning air wasn't conducive to talking, and they walked the half mile or so to Tempo's house in silence. The whole neighborhood was just as quiet as the empty field the Gate was in, with the exception of a few houses where people were up getting ready for work.

Before long they were at Tempo's house, and he fished around again for the fake rock with the spare key. The windows were all dark, and Tempo opened the door as quietly as he could. It was darn cold outside, so he let the ladies inside before saying, "Wait here." Tempo scouted out his dad's bedroom, then the rest of the house before breathing a sigh of relief. "He's not here!" Tempo called out, flipping on the living room lights. He walked back toward the front door. "All right, I get the first shower." He informed the girls.

"Why's that?" Silva demanded.

"My house." Tempo said easily. "Plus, as you so thoughtfully pointed out, I need the shower more than you do."

"All right, all right." Silva started walking off toward the kitchen. "Your fridge is empty!" Was heard from that direction a moment later.

"Sounds like you could go pick up some breakfast while I'm in there." Tempo suggested.

"I COULD... If I had a driver's license. Or a car." Silva replied.

"Take my car." Tempo shrugged.

"Wouldn't it still be over at the school? Assuming it hasn't been declared abandoned and towed in the last two days."

Tempo thought about it for a second, before... "Crap!"

"I can teleport us over there." Schala broke in.

"You can?" Tempo looked surprised. "But wouldn't that drain your energy unnecessarily?"

Schala shrugged. "Just continuing to exist drains my energy anyway. Might as well make myself useful."

"Tempo, were you not paying attention?" Silva asked. "I don't have a driver's license, and I'm pretty darn sure Schala doesn't either."

"What about that fake ID Sowell got for you?" Tempo prodded.

"Ugh. That was a mistake. I already knew hangovers were something to be avoided BEFORE I experienced one for myself." Silva groaned. "Besides, if I get pulled over, it's going to be pretty obvious that I'm not actually twenty eight."

"If all else fails, cry." Tempo grinned.

"What?" Silva frowned.

"Girls do not get tickets if they cry. Not for anything short of vehicular manslaughter, anyway. This is an irrefutable fact of life." Tempo dug into one of the side pockets in his pants, and came up with the car keys a second later. "There aren't many cops out this time of day anyway. I think they figure most of the drunks have to be home by now, and morning rush hour hasn't started yet." Silva still didn't look convinced. "Hey, if you're too afraid to do this, how are you going to face up to Levasos?"

"Good point." Silva sighed. She took the car keys from Tempo, then turned to Schala. "All right then, let's go." Schala put a hand on Silva's shoulder, and the two disappeared with a slight blurring effect. Tempo headed for the shower.

.

It was an uncharacteristically long shower, for him. However, he hadn't bathed in two days, and he'd been involved in several battles since then. He'd emerged relatively untouched, but he did notice a few new scars from his fight with Garin. 'That was just round one.' He promised himself.

He emerged from the bathroom to find Silva and Schala already seated at the kitchen table, taking typically small, girl-sized bites out of food wrapped in colorful paper. "Aw, hell. Burger Baron? Why didn't you go to McDinkle's?" Tempo complained.

Silva turned to Schala. "That's just his way of saying, 'Thanks for going to get breakfast while I enjoyed a hot shower'."

"I figured as much." Schala smiled.

"Everybody knows me at McDinkle's." Silva answered his question. "Besides, aren't you the one who's always going on about how the 'Dink Deluxe' is the worst burger you've ever tasted?"

"Indeed it is." Tempo took a seat at the table and rummaged around in the bag, coming up with some bite sized pancakes and dipping syrup. "For lunch and dinner, McDinkle's sucks. But at breakfast, they're the best."

"You're right, I really should pay more attention to the peculiarities of your unrefined palate." Silva said, a grin on her face.

"What?" Tempo scratched his head. Silva just snickered. "Rena would've gone to McDinkle's." He pouted.

"Rena would've made you get your own damn food." Silva answered instantly.

"Yeah... She would have." Tempo admitted, smiling.

"Anyway..." Silva pushed her chair back from the table, standing up. "I'm heading for the shower now. How 'bout you throw my clothes in the wash after you hear the water running?" Tempo nearly choked on the pancake he was swallowing, thinking that might lead to a situation fraught with awkwardness. "You okay?" Silva gave him a weird look.

Tempo had to remind himself that Silva didn't know ALL the details about the first time he'd been with Rena. "Just fine." He coughed. "But we actually have some clothes around here that you could change into."

"What, your mom's?" Silva raised an eyebrow. "Even if there's anything I could stand to wear, I don't think your dad would appreciate that."

"Er... no." Tempo said quietly, wondering if he should take offense at the implied slight to his mother's fashion sense. Silva did have a point though; All of his mother's clothes would be at least fourteen years old now. "I still have a few of Rena's outfits in my closet." Silva was giving him a very weirded-out look now. "Hey, it's not as creepy as you seem to think! It's not like I snuck into your house and stole some stuff before your parents boxed it up."

"What, then?" Silva's uneasy look remained.

"She had some clothes stashed here for those occasions when she stayed overnight, which was not NEARLY as often as I would have liked. Your parents had to be out of town, after all. So, I just... never got rid of them. That's all." Tempo shrugged.

"Still, probably not real healthy." Silva said. "But, as long as you're not dressing up in them and pretending your reflection in the mirror is Rena, I'm not too worried." For a minute, she thought she'd gone too far, as Tempo just stared at her, mouth hanging open.

Then, he grinned. "NICE one! You're in top form today, I gotta say. Anyway, take whatever you need from the closet." Silva nodded, and headed off toward the bathroom.

"She had maybe three bites of those pancakes." Schala said softly, once she was sure Silva was out of earshot.

"I know." Tempo let out a sigh through his nose. "But she absolutely will not listen if you try to tell her directly that she has a problem. Aside from pointing out that she looks like a skeleton in her bikini, there's not a whole lot I can do. I've tried talking to her parents about it, but..."

"But what?" Schala prompted. 'What's a bikini?' She also wondered, but decided it probably wasn't real important right now.

"Ever since Rena died, they're convinced that Silva can do no wrong. It's like she's retroactively become a spoiled only child." Tempo sighed again. "And hey, I pay a lot more attention to her now than I did when she was just my girlfriend's annoying little sister, but I don't think she's perfect." Now, he noticed Schala reaching over to grab the pancakes that Silva had left on the table. "Though now that we're on the subject, I've hardly ever seen you eat anything, either."

"That's because **I** don't technically need to." Schala responded. "I've kind of gotten out of the habit. But that's going to change. Though the energy the nooze can absorb from food is pretty minimal compared to direct Lavoid exposure, every little bit helps at this point." Then, a slight smile appeared on her face. "Plus, some of this stuff smelled really good." She said, pulling a side of deep fried hash browns out of the bag.

"Do your taste buds actually work, then?" Tempo wondered out loud.

"Yes, thankfully." Schala answered, before taking a big bite. "The fire spell didn't make it all the way up to my tongue." Normally, she would never talk with food in her mouth, but she got the feeling that around Tempo, it was okay. They sat and ate in silence for a minute, before Schala brought up a subject she felt she had to. "Tempo, you came around to the idea of taking Levasos down pretty quick."

He shrugged. "In addition to messing with my head, we know he'll kill a lot of innocent people in the future. Aside from my own fear, I can't really come up with a reason NOT to go after him."

"Well, I came to this world solely for the purpose of defeating him, and it's turned out to be a much more personal fight than I would have liked..." Schala bit her lip. "I have to do this, but I don't really see where you have to fight him."

"Hey, this is MY planet." Tempo smiled. "Anyone who thinks they have the right to abuse my world as they please is in for a nasty surprise."

"That's good to hear." Schala nodded. "I should probably admit, I've never actually fought a Lavoid face to face. Outside of a dream, that is." She sighed.

"Have you even seen one face to face?" Tempo wondered.

"Yes, unfortunately." Schala frowned. "At the time, I was powerless to do anything to fight him. I could only stand back and watch as he swatted aside four of the strongest people I'd ever seen like they were nothing. Then, the strongest one of all sacrificed himself to save the rest of us..." She whispered. 'Crono... I'm sorry.' She thought to herself. She'd been too wrapped up in self pity lately to give much thought to Crono, but his actions HAD saved them all, back at the Ocean Palace. "And now it seems that Levasos has defeated Ertai, though he was a little vague on whether Ertai was still alive or not."

Somehow, Tempo wasn't overly surprised that Levasos had invaded Schala's dreams as well. "I thought that guy seemed a little too full of himself." Tempo said, trying not to sound too mean about it, since Schala was clearly fond of Ertai. "But I can't shake the feeling that I've seen him somewhere before. Him and that girl he was with."

That caught Schala off guard. "Really? I've never seen the girl before in my life, I'm sure."

Tempo shrugged. "I know, it doesn't make any sense. I don't know when I would have met someone from your planet before."

"Maybe in another life." Schala said, allowing a slight smile to appear on her face once more.

"Heh. Maybe." After everything else he'd seen lately, Tempo wasn't about to completely dismiss that possibility. He finished eating, crumpled up the wrappers, and threw them back into the bag. "So, while we wait for Silva, how 'bout some more TV?"

"Works for me." Schala nodded.

.

Tempo was about to doze off again when Silva emerged from the shower about fifteen minutes later. There was absolutely nothing on early on a monday morning, and he'd ended up settling for golf, GOLF, of all things, that was actually a REPLAY of a tournament from yesterday. He looked up as Silva emerged from the hallway, surprised to see that Rena's clothes looked positively baggy on Silva.

"They don't fit all that great." Silva clearly had similar thoughts. "I didn't realize Rena was getting to be so tubby..."

It was all Tempo could do to keep from yelling at her at that. 'Rena was the one who had the perfect body, not you!!' He shouted mentally, but didn't actually say anything, other then, "Huh."

"But they'll do for now." Silva finished. She was wearing some light blue jeans and a tie-dyed T-shirt that would be woefully out of place in any other time. Come to think of it, it was woefully out of place in this time as well, but that was kind of the point. "Anyone else using the shower?" Silva asked.

They both turned to look at Schala, and she mulled it over. The nooze had much higher tolerances to heat and cold than standard human innards, so she didn't sweat anymore, or shiver. She didn't even really feel heat or cold in the traditional sense. But, she also hadn't bathed since she'd been on this planet, and it suddenly sounded good. "Yeah, I guess so." Schala stood up.

"There's another set of clothes in his closet." Silva nodded her head in the right direction, and Schala headed off upstairs to Tempo's room. His walls were covered with incomprehensible images, while both a drum set and guitar were crammed into a corner next to his bed. There were a fair number of books scattered around in random piles, as well. It was an intriguing room, all in all, but she didn't have time to study it. She found a set of clothes that were neatly folded, as opposed to hanging up or crumpled on the floor, and assumed that was what she was looking for.

.

As Schala began to slip out of her royal robes, she wondered when exactly was the last time she'd been completely naked. Even using the time she'd actually been conscious as a reference, it had been at least a month. Despite the very nice bathroom she'd had access to at the Zeal Palace, she hadn't bathed all that regularly, because she simply didn't need to. The nooze rendered her body virtually odorless. The last time she'd actually needed a bath had been because Lathain had hauled off and taken a royal whiz while she was changing his diaper. 'Lathain...' She couldn't help smiling at the memory, thinking of him as both a cheerful toddler and the confident young man who'd killed a Farilii with a single spell. Of course, the fact that she'd even met his older self was proof that the toddler had been sent through time, just like Janus and Ertai. But as for the young man, she had no idea what had become of him.

She sighed, then let her dress fall to the floor, and headed over to the tub. It took her a minute to figure out exactly how to get the shower going, but she was washing her hair under the steamy spray soon enough. 'Nice facilities, I have to admit.' She thought. She found her thoughts drifting all over the place as she worked the soap into a nice lather, but they really weren't going anywhere productive. It was mainly anxiety at the forefront of her mind, and that stone toe clanking around at the bottom of the tub wasn't helping things either. On the other hand, the knowledge that, one way or another, it would actually be over soon was fairly comforting. She would either be a statue, slain by Levasos, or actually alive again. She had already decided that she wasn't going to settle for merely charging up the nooze again. If, by some miracle, she could do that without meeting Levasos face to face, she was still going to hunt him down after...

.

Tempo and Silva looked up as Schala emerged at the bottom of the stairs, hair still wrapped in a towel. It had taken her a little while to figure out what the zipper on the jeans did, and while it was obvious what the bra was FOR, it had taken some time to figure out how to get it on right, but she was pretty sure she had everything right now. In fact, everything seemed to fit perfectly, which was just the tiniest bit unsettling. The jeans were a darker shade than Silva's, while the T-shirt was predominantly white, with some horizontal blue and purple stripes. "Couldn't you find the hair dryer?" Silva asked.

"What's a hair dryer?" Schala asked, resulting in a puzzled look from Silva.

Not Tempo, though. "Hey remember, not only is she not from our time, she's not even from this planet." He reminded Silva. "Why don't you show her how it works?"

"All right." Silva got up from the couch with an exagerrated sigh. "Do you want to throw your old clothes in the washing machine?"

"Washing machine?" Schala looked confused again.

"Different planet." Tempo said again, in a tone that clearly indicated he thought he shouldn't have had to say it. "But I get the feeling those robes are of a 'dry clean only' variety anyway."

"All right then, let's go." Silva started heading back upstairs, and Schala followed. Tempo only looked up from the TV when they weren't looking at him anymore. Man, Schala had been hiding quite a figure under those robes! Of course, his heart still belonged to Rena, but that didn't mean his hormones had been magically turned off. In any event, it looked like the clothes fit Schala a lot better than Silva. He was willing to bet that Schala WOULDN'T look like a skeleton in a bikini, then he found himself simply staring up at the ceiling while that nice mental image took over for a while.

.

When the girls came back downstairs about ten minutes later, Tempo was sprawled out on the couch, almost asleep again. He looked up to see that once again, Schala had a smile on her face. It was a look he could get used to.

"I love the hair dryer!" Schala said excitedly. "I've had long hair my whole life, and it usually takes about two hours to dry, unless I use magic."

"Heh. Glad you enjoyed it." Tempo sat back up, stretching. "All right, we probably ought to be heading back to the end of time." Tempo blinked a few times. "Man, I can't believe I just said that non-ironically. But, Lion should be getting back before too long now."

"Can we at least take some jackets with us?" Silva wondered. "The walk over here was darn cold, and that cell in 975 wasn't the warmest place in the world either."

Tempo frowned. "We would have to go digging through my mom's old stuff for that. But... I guess it isn't a good idea to go zipping off to strange times expecting eighty degree weather, especially in January. Let's go." Tempo headed off to his dad's room, the girls following close behind. Schala thought this room looked more boring than Tempo's, though again, there were a lot of books, this time neatly organized on shelves. There were a few narrow swords hanging on the walls as well. Schala was tempted to ask if she could borrow one, but she planned on having the Masamune in her possession soon enough.

Tempo was digging through a box deep in the closet, then came up with a light blue jacket, which he handed to Silva. "Thick enough?"

Silva held it up for a second, then put it on. "Unless we run into a raging snow storm, it should be fine."

Tempo resumed digging through the box for a minute, then an "Ah ha!" could be heard. Tempo held up a jacket that was a shiny purple color. "Never seen this before, but..." He held it out to Schala, "This one is definitely you."

Schala took it and looked it over at arm's length. There were cords hanging down from the hood, and a fairly large logo high on the right side that said "Portland Sportswear". She had started unzipping the front and was about to try it on, when something caught her eye. On a tag that was sewn into the jacket where the hood met the main body, someone had written what were probably initials: "SGV". It immediately started prodding at a corner of Schala's mind. 'But why?' She wondered. 'What's so significant about SGV?' It was probably just because those three letters were the first letters in the names **S**chala and **G**reven **V**ecar.

"Something wrong?" Tempo asked. He'd been thinking that anything purple would be right up Schala's alley.

"No, no." Schala assured him. "I was just curious about something. What was your mother's name?"

Tempo looked surprised. "Selena. Odd name for a white girl, I know, but that's what it was."

Schala had no idea what he meant by that, but decided it wasn't important right now. "And your last name?"

He still looked surprised. "Verity." Now, he realized why Schala was asking. "Oh, wondering about the initials?"

"Yes." Schala nodded. "I thought the 'SGV' seemed familiar, though I couldn't tell you why."

"S**G**V?" Tempo grabbed the jacket back. "That's freakin' bizarre. My mother's maiden name was Benson..."

"Wasn't her middle name Genevieve?" Silva broke in.

"Oh." Tempo looked embarassed. "Yeah, it was. But..." He frowned again. "I'm ninety nine percent sure she spelled it with a J."

Silva shrugged. "So maybe it's a typo."

Tempo had a look on his face now that was halfway between amused and annoyed. "Yes, I'm sure my mother misspelled HER OWN NAME. Hell, just the other day I somehow managed to spell 'Tempo' with a K!"

Silva groaned. "Even if not, so what? Maybe your dad wrote it down wrong. Maybe they got it as a hand-me-down from someone else. What does it matter, anyway?"

Tempo handed the jacket back to Schala. "I guess it doesn't. It's just a little brain teaser. If I can ever get my dad to stop yelling at me next time I see him, I'll ask about it."

"That's probably the more important question: Where is your dad, anyway?" Silva wondered.

Tempo shrugged. "Away on business, as usual. Though you'd think after filing a missing person's report on me, he could have bothered to stick around for a bit." Now, Tempo turned to see Schala putting the jacket on. "Yeah, that's definitely you." He smiled. "Plus, now you can pretty much pass as someone from our time, if you need to."

Silva shook her head. "Nah, not with that hair."

"I dunno." Tempo shrugged. "True, most girls you see with dyed hair keep theirs fairly short, but I don't think the hair by itself identifies her as someone from another planet."

"It's not dyed." Schala said quietly.

"Huh?" The other two both turned to her with raised eyebrows. "No way!" Silva cried. "There's no way silvery-purpley-blue is a natural color!"

"Well, not on our planet." Tempo shrugged.

"You're going to believe her, just like that?" Silva demanded.

"Well I'm not about to ask her to prove it!" Tempo shot back.

"Oh. Good point." Silva admitted.

"Calling it a 'natural' color may not be quite right..." Schala explained. "I'm pretty sure it was caused by close proximity to the magical emanations of the Sun Stone..." This got completely blank looks from the other two. "There was only one other person with hair like mine, and that was my mother. She wasn't born with it, though. Her hair changed color when my father first harnessed the power of the Sun Stone, while it changed the hair of every other magic-using woman to a more normal shade of blue. Though 'normal' may not be the right word here..."

The blank looks continued for a second, before Tempo smiled and simply said, "Cool!"

"Was your mother mad at your dad for magically changing her hair?" Silva wondered.

A slight smile returned to Schala's face. "She was mad at him for plenty of things, but that wasn't one of them."

"And it sounds like she WAS born with that hair color, which makes it natural in my book." Tempo pointed out. "Anyway..." He walked over to the opposite wall, and pulled both swords down. "We're taking these along. Dad's already gonna be pissed because I put Mom's clothes to use, so we might as well use these too. Now..." He started heading for the door. "I left my good jacket in the locker room at the high school, but if what Keldon said is true, it should be back in my room now..." Tempo hurried back to his room, then reappeared in the hall wearing a thick black jacket. "Well, hell. If Garin was powerful enough to just change reality like that, I may need to fight Levasos just as a warm up."

"Don't take Levasos for granted." Schala finally spoke up on that subject. "I don't know who or what Garin is, but Levasos will be a gigantic challenge, I promise."

Tempo flashed her a toothy grin. "Hey, don't worry. He'll get my best stuff. Now come on, let's go meet up with the 'Synth."

.

Everyone seemed to be in a good mood as they headed back toward the Gate. The sun was up, and it felt a lot warmer, though the actual air temperature was still pretty low. Tempo was humming a song to himself, until he suddenly started singing out loud. "_Now here we stand, with their blood on our hands! We fought so hard, now can we understand? I'll break the seal of this curse if I possibly can... For the freedom of every man!_"

Now, Silva joined in as well. "_So far away, we wait for the daaaaaay! For the lives all so wasted and gone. We feel the pain, of a lifetime lost in a thousand days... Through the fire and the flames we carry on!_"

.

"It's okay to do nothing. It's all right to stop and think things over for a while." - Izumi Curtis, _Fullmetal Alchemist_

"I really think there's more nothing in this movie than in any movie we've seen." - Mike Nelson, _Mystery Science Theater 3000_

(Nanaki's note: So, once again we've had a multi-month wait between updates. Sorry about that, but I actually ran into a fairly substantial continuity problem with this chapter. I'm not going to say what it was, because then everyone who's been paying attention will be thinking, 'Oh yeah, what the hell is up with that anyway?' I'm still not completely satisfied with my solution, but I'm just going to hope that it all works out in the end.

The MST3K quote above is to acknowledge the fact that not a lot of things actually _happened_ in this chapter. However, this was a very important chapter for me. I didn't realize until I'd started that this is the first chapter about Schala and Tempo I've written since 2002. So, this was a sort of "Getting Back Into The Characters' Heads 101" for me. Also, even though Lion made an observation about it in Chapter 54, it didn't really hit home for me until this one that, in the story, it's only been TWO DAYS since Chapter 18. Of course, the Lion's Story chapters made those two days take up a lot more story space than they otherwise would have, but even so. To quote Seanbaby: "That's fucking _crazy_."

Next, if anyone is looking for J.K. Rowling-esque clues about what's going to happen in the story, there were three of them in this chapter, and one was a BIG one. I'm not going to point out exactly what it was, but for a hint, think back to what one of the biggest mysteries was after Half-Blood Prince came out, (And I'm not talking about the silly "Is Dumbledore really dead?" question.) and you'll be on the right track.

Finally, "Through the Fire and the Flames", a completely bitchin' song by DragonForce, was used at the end of this chapter completely without their permission. But really, when do we fanfic authors worry about actually asking permission? Anyway, I hope to have another chapter for all of you in a matter of weeks, instead of a matter of months. Peace out!)


	58. What We Know

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 58: What We Know**

By Nanaki

The End of Time

Lion arrived back at the end of time with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. Not only had he spent a passionate night with a woman he loved who he'd thought dead, but he'd also got to spend some quality time with a son he'd never thought he'd see, and a father he'd thought he'd never see again. Plus, Tess had let him sleep in while she washed his clothes and made the first decent breakfast he'd had in months. To top it all off, President Soultech's personal ship had pulled up to the house just as he was taking off to fly to the Gate. That probably HAD resulted in an argument for Tess to deal with, but that was pretty much inevitable at this point, and it was probably better that he wasn't around right at the start. Lion needed Tess to pave the way enough that the President wouldn't automatically try to have him killed or arrested on sight.

Lion hurried over to the torch pillar, to find the others arranged on three beds laid out in a semi-circular pattern. Tempo appeared to be asleep on his bed, while Schala and Silva were playing a card game on one of the others. All three were wearing different clothes than the last time he'd seen them, and Lion was suddenly aware that his own clothes were pretty threadbare and worn out. Oh well, it was too late to worry about that now.

"Hey, look who's finally up!" Silva was the first to notice him. "What time did you get to sleep, anyway?"

"Oh, about midnight, I'd guess." Lion shrugged. "Then again at around two."

Silva chuckled a bit. "I'm guessing Tempo's spell worked even better on you than it did on him." She said, referring to the spell Tempo had used against Moogoo and Habeeb that ended the battle while restoring the good guys to fighting shape at the same time.

"Well actually, the kid woke us up." Lion admitted. "But later on, we took advantage."

"I'm sorry we didn't get to meet your son." Schala said softly. "But, you definitely deserved some time alone, anyway."

"Well, you didn't miss a whole lot. He's not much of a conversationalist yet. Though he is pretty adorable." Lion grinned. "So, what's our plan here, anyway?"

"We're heading to 70 million B.C. to go after Levasos." Silva summed it up. "But we have to wait until Keldon's done with your ship first." Now, a wry grin appeared on her face. "Or should I say, Jaguarena's ship?"

"I suppose that would be technically correct. Legally, it is still hers." Lion glanced back at the walkway where the Skyshroud Ranger was docked, relieved to see that the debris field of parts had all been cleaned up now.

"But to bring it up for no apparent reason," the voice drifted over from Tempo's bed, "is the very definition of bitchy."

"Sheesh Tempo, the way you're talking to me today, you'd think we were the couple from Ethnic Mismatch Comedy #427." Silva complained.

"Huh?" Puzzled looks appeared on both Lion and Schala's faces at this.

"No..." Tempo sat up on the bed, stretching. "If that was the case, I just would have said, 'Shaaaaaduppa yo' face!!'" He shouted, making an odd hand gesture at the same time.

The puzzled look remained on Lion's face for another second, before he shrugged again. "Twentieth century entertainment. Never got it, never will."

"Hey, I bet you could start rattling off tons of thirty sixth century pop culture references that none of us would get." Tempo observed.

"Of course I could. But if no one gets them, what's the point?" Lion replied. "Anyway, I was thinking on the way over, it would probably be a good idea if we go over what's happened up until now. The odds are, all four of us have probably noticed something that the others didn't think was important."

"Good thinking." Schala nodded. "But where do we even start?"

"Right at the beginning." Tempo said. "The whole mess in the middle ages with Moogoo. Besides, Lion should know what happened before he joined up."

"Yeah, how did this whole time travel mess start, anyway?" Lion sat down on the unoccupied bed.

Tempo leaned back, putting his weight on his elbows. "Well, I was deep inside a mine... Long story, but I really don't think it's important now... When I found what looked like a huge, glowing blue crystal embedded in the rock, and the glow got brighter when I touched it. I cleared away as much of the rock as I could, then I put my palm flat on it, and it just about blinded me. When I could see again, most of the crystal had melted away, and Schala comes tumbling out."

All eyes turned to Schala now. "The 'crystal' was a complicated Shield spell, designed to withstand the vacuum of space and keep me in suspended animation." She explained. "It was underground because I'd tried to chase down Levasos when we first got here, but he burrowed into the lava too quick-"

"Wait a minute!" Tempo held up a hand. "You and Levasos got here at the same time?"

"Well, yeah." Schala said, surprised that this hadn't come up before. "I chased him here from my world, hitching my Shield to his magical signature."

"Huh." Tempo scratched his head, a bit confused by the way Schala had said that as if it was something completely ordinary. "But the real question is, why did me getting you out of the shield send us back in time? And, why weren't we immediately encased in rock, since the mine didn't exist anymore? AND, why didn't that trip through time involve a Gate?"

"Plus, why did Silva get zapped back too, even though she was up on the surface?" Schala added. "The answer to all of that is, I have no idea." She answered honestly. "It might have something to do with the Lavoid energy that keeps me alive, but beyond that, I don't have a clue." She decided not to tell everyone that her dreams seemed to indicate that Greven had arranged it all, WHILE DEAD. Even with everything they'd seen lately, that would probably be a bit much.

"How bizarre..." Lion said quietly. "But I have to admit, the WHY of time travel bothers me a lot less than who's been doing it."

"Like Moogoo." Silva nodded slowly. "Just what WAS Moogoo doing in 975, anyway?"

"Fighting the Soul Knights." Tempo said quickly. "But, that may have just been a side effect of his desire to get his hands on the Soul Stone. Our big showdown with him did happen because WE went after HIM, after all."

"I think by now it's safe to say that whatever he was doing, he THOUGHT it was going to help him in the fight against Levasos." Schala pointed out. "He didn't trust us because of the Lavoid energy inside me."

"That 'better place' he sent the Soul Knights to must have been another time." Tempo realized. "But overall, I've got a lot more questions than answers about Moogoo."

"Like, what's up with the stupid name, anyway?" Silva joined in.

"Like that, yes." Tempo grinned. "Or, why didn't Master Raganorn end up in the same time as us, when he went through the same Gate?"

"Maybe he did." Schala looked thoughtful. "We were all unconscious for who knows how long when we first got to Lion's time. Maybe Master Raganorn was out scouting around, and got ambushed by the Komodaera."

"I don't think so." Tempo sounded skeptical. "Even if they did jump him, there's no way they could have taken Master Raganorn down."

"Don't be too sure." Schala frowned in thought. "First of all, we haven't had a real fight against Berreka, so we really don't know how strong he is."

"Yeah, but he'd have to be like five times stronger than Barada to even have a chance against Raganorn." Tempo responded.

"Maybe." Schala admitted. "Second, Master Raganorn was definitely the strongest of us back in the middle ages, but I don't think he was any stronger than you are right now. Probably not as strong, honestly." Tempo looked liked he wasn't sure what to say to that. "Third, maybe they didn't take him by force. Maybe he went with them voluntarily, for reasons we don't know yet."

"We know the Komodaera were working for Moogoo, and presumably, for Habeeb as well, so I can't see him coming to an agreement with them." Tempo observed. "But you're right, we just don't know."

"What DO we know?" Lion wondered.

"Not a lot." Tempo answered instantly. "But now we're up to the point where you showed up. At least we've answered the question of 'Why do you hate Soultech so much?'"

"Yeah, I guess so." Lion laughed. "Though I suppose now you could say that I have a love-hate relationship with it. President Soultech is my son's grandfather, after all."

"Yikes." Silva frowned. "I hadn't quite thought of it that way."

"I prefer not to think about it either." Lion folded his arms.

"Before we go on, I have one more question about the beginning." Schala turned to Tempo. "Right after we first met, you claimed that humans can't use magic. Yet, since then, I've seen you prove time and again that you know quite a bit about magic. So, what's the story there?"

Tempo grinned. "Well, we at Soultech know all about how to turn our own spirit energy into a form which can be used to cast spells, which I suppose would be magic waves. But it's always been believed to be impossible to pull magic right out of the air, like you do."

"You realize, that's exactly what you're doing too." Schala pointed out. "I can only assume that you're drawing free-flowing winds of magic from where they happen to be flowing through your body."

"I guess." Tempo shrugged. "You know more about this than I do. But MY next question is, why am I a wanted fugitive in Lion's time, despite the fact that I should have been dead for close to 1,500 years? I mean, all other issues aside, shouldn't humanity have started with a clean slate after Levasos torched the world?"

"You got me." Lion shrugged now. "I had heard about the oddity of the man who'd been wanted since 1995, but everyone kind of shrugged it off as typical government idiocy. If I had to take a guess now, I'd say that someone with a lot of influence wants you to get chased by giant robots whenever you're in my time. So, it was either Habeeb getting back at you for defeating Moogoo in 975, or else Levasos or Garin have a plan for you that this is a part of."

"Argh..." Tempo rubbed his eyes. "It seems like every question just leads to three others. But even so, I've got another one for you." He looked at Lion pointedly. "Why don't you know how old you are?"

"I don't know that either." Lion replied. "Both my age and the reasons I can't know my age are classified. I do have several theories about that, the most likely being that my birth was somehow tied into a mission that's still top secret."

Tempo frowned in thought. "But it's your father who's the prototype, not your mother. So what would she have been doing on a top secret mission while nine months pregnant?"

"Eighteen months pregnant, actually." Lion grinned. "Remember the whole aging at half speed bit. It applies to gestation too. But, if I'm reading your train of thought right, you're trying to find some evidence that my parents aren't actually my birth parents."

"Well, yeah. I guess so." Tempo realized.

"Under normal circumstances, that might be a good theory. But, at the time I was born, my father was the only prototype of reproductive age in the world. So, if I didn't come from him, just where the hell DID I come from?"

"Good point, probably." Tempo nodded. "But on the other hand, there's a chance that could turn out to be an incredibly important question."

"A pretty slim chance, I'd say." Lion snorted.

"Maybe so, but if I ever actually get the chance to talk to Jaguarena, I'm going to ask if she actually remembers you being born." Tempo frowned again.

"I doubt that she would." Lion said easily. "We're only four years apart, so she would have been the non-'Synth equivalent of two years old when I was born."

"Hmm..." Tempo leaned back on the bed, thinking. "Who do you think the masked man who summoned the Weapons was?"

"I'd say it'd pretty much have to be Leng or Gazuga." Silva said quickly.

"Who's Leng?" Tempo frowned.

"Remember, just before Habeeb sent us away from his hideout, he said something like, 'Maybe Leng can knock some sense into them.'?" Silva reminded him.

"Yeah, I remember. But... I thought you were unconscious during that part." Tempo's frown deepened.

Silva suddenly looked worried. "Um... I think I was."

"Okay then." Lion shrugged cheerfully. "That's hardly the most implausible thing that's come up in this conversation. At any rate, there's a good chance that we'll meet the masked man again when we go after Levasos. And then I'll kill him. There's a chance we'll run into the possessed Weapons again too."

"I think we should plan on running into a lot of nasty surprises when we go after Levasos." Tempo smiled dangerously. "Now then, do we have any questions relating to that first trip back to my time?"

"You mean, aside from the obvious: What the hell is Garin?" Lion smirked.

"Yeah, aside from that. I'm frequently asking myself that question too." Tempo admitted.

"Well, I want to know how to play basketball." Schala smiled. "But that can probably wait until later."

"Hey, no problem." Tempo smiled back. "As soon as Levasos goes down, we'll have a little one on one in my driveway."

"Don't you think Sowell would be the better teacher?" Silva asked. "Considering that, you know, he actually PLAYED basketball in high school?"

"Sheesh, what'd you have for breakfast this morning, Burger Baron's Instant Bitch Special?" Tempo demanded, and Lion hurried to hide the smile that appeared on his face for a split second. "I know the basic rules anyway. I don't need Sowell."

"Tempo..." Silva growled. "I am gonna get you at some point today, buddy. Just you wait."

"So... Any questions about our return to 3500?" Lion stretched.

"Hmm..." Tempo mulled it over. "I don't think so. I figured out for myself that the Gate that brought us back was so far from the city because the Gate we used the first time was from Moogoo's fortress... But, how did you know where to find Habeeb when the time came?"

"Well, I wasn't completely sure. But there are only a few decent hiding places in the vicinity of Lohkiarn, and one of them is the Soultech building, which we were already in. So, after that, the lakeside grotto seemed the best choice." Lion shrugged. "I'm more interested in where we got zapped to after that."

"Clearly somewhere Levasos was in the process of attacking." Schala said dryly. "Putting the pieces together, I'd say it was Leng's fortress, whoever Leng is. I think the important thing to focus on is what Ertai said."

"I remember he referred to you as a Queen, challenging the Lavoid with a small band of loyal knights." Tempo smirked. "So, does he just have a fondness for flowery language, or did he mean that pretty much literally?"

"Hoo boy..." Schala let out a long sigh before answering. "Literally." She admitted. "Since my brother apparently killed our mother, that would officially make me the Queen of Zeal Kingdom." This resulted in raised eyebrows from the other three. "But, since the Kingdom of Zeal was destroyed by Lavos, I don't see that it matters much. My father's dream has come to an end..."

"Um..." Tempo raised his hand. "I got like six new questions out of that. First off, you were a princess on your home planet?"

"Yes." Schala nodded.

"And your brother, who would be a prince, I assume, killed your mother, the Queen?"

"Yes to both." Schala nodded again. "At least, he SAID he killed her. I wasn't there at the time. But, Mother was completely possessed by Lavos..."

"And this Lavos, who destroyed your kingdom, he was the father of Levasos?" Tempo continued without missing a beat.

"Parent, anyway." Schala shrugged. "I really don't know how their species reproduces..."

"Is Lavos still out there?" Tempo leaned back on his bed.

"No." Schala shook her head. "My brother killed him as well. But as Lavos was dying, he shot Levasos up into space... and I followed." She finished.

"Huh..." Tempo frowned, seeming to add something up in his mind. "And this brother is the same 'Magus' who Ertai said was 'almost dead' back at the fortress?"

"Yes." Schala answered simply. Everyone was looking at Tempo expectantly now, as if he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

Tempo remained lost in thought for a few more seconds before he shrugged. "I got nothin'. Other than, damn, Levasos is strong." There were collective groans from Silva and Lion. "Wait a minute. Is Magus that 'strongest one of all' you were telling me about back at breakfast? Wait, no..." He continued before Schala could answer. "You said that one sacrificed himself to save the rest of you."

"Yes, he did..." But now Schala frowned, remembering something else Ertai had said. "But that strongest person I'd ever seen, who gave his life to save us, was named Crono... Yet Ertai said that he'd been hoping he and I could defeat Levasos together, 'like Crono and Magus did on Elosia'..."

"Well either you and Ertai are from different timelines..." Lion ventured a guess. "Or Crono wasn't actually dead."

"Oh, this doesn't make any sense." Schala rubbed her eyes. "With my own eyes, I saw Crono get blown apart by an energy blast from Lavos..."

"Yikes..." Silva wrinkled her nose.

"Sounds like you two are from different timelines then." Lion reasoned. "Which means it's theoretically possible that another Ertai could show up at some point."

"Oy." Tempo groaned. In the silence that followed, they could hear footsteps on the cobblestones. They all turned to see Keldon coming up the walkway from the Skyshroud Ranger, wiping his hands on a dirty rag.

"She's all set!" He announced.

"Thank God." Tempo groaned and stood up. "This wasn't getting us anywhere."

"I'll be glad to be back in the ship again." Lion grinned. "Especially now that she can travel through time at will." Everyone stood up, quickly grabbing jackets, swords, and any other equipment they happened to have lying around.

"Hold on a second!" Keldon held up a hand. "I know you're all set to go chasing after Levasos, but first, why don't you have a look through the door behind me?"

.

"Let me bring you up to speed. We know nothing. You are now up to speed." - Inspector Clouseau, _The Pink Panther 2_

(Nanaki's note: Yes, the main characters are just as confused as you are. Moreso, actually, since you know more than they do. On the plus side, it was just SLIGHTLY over a month between updates this time, and the action is about to start again, so the updates should be getting more frequent. Also on the plus side, you WILL find out what happened to Ertai in Chapter 60. I didn't mean to create a seven year cliffhanger, it just kind of happened...)


	59. Interview With The Lavoid

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 59: Interview With The Lavoid**

By Nanaki

70 Million B.C.

Leng, Habeeb, and Moogoo found themselves in a rather luxuriously appointed room, filled with comfortable looking sofas and reclining chairs, a large selection of drinks set out on a table in the center. Behind them, the door slammed shut, hiding from view Jaguarena and the mysterious blue haired man called "The ArchMagus" who had escorted them here. Though in Habeeb's case, Jaguarena had ended the "escort" by forcefully kicking him in here, not that Habeeb blamed her a whole lot. He had known it was a very dangerous gamble, trying to force her to follow his orders against her will, and he'd taken that gamble anyway.

"Well, what now?" Moogoo wondered. At some point that none of them could recall, their wounds had finally been healed, and their clothes mended. Moogoo was now pretty sure that they were being subjected to some variation of the good cop-bad cop routine.

"As always, we keep our eyes open for an opportunity." Leng answered calmly.

"Yeah, but an opportunity to do what, exactly?" Habeeb asked. "Fighting our way out past father and Jaguarena would be tough enough, never mind the blue hair and Levasos."

"Fighting probably won't get us far in here." Leng admitted. "Just keep our final goal in mind. Our own survival has always been secondary compared to that."

"Yeah, but I-" Moogoo instantly shut up as a door on the opposite end of the room opened, and Levasos strode calmly in.

"Good morning, gentlemen. Feeling better, I hope?" He asked politely.

"What do you care?" Moogoo asked. Leng instantly made a slashing gesture across his throat, hoping Moogoo wouldn't ask any more antagonizing questions.

"I care because you three are the sons of my most trusted follower, and one of the few people in existence I actually think of as a friend." Levasos said in a straightforward manner.

"You'd think it'd be easy to make friends when you can control people's minds." Habeeb observed.

"Guys, what say you let me do the talking, okay?" Leng asked dangerously.

"It's all right, Leng." Levasos waved that concern aside. "I didn't want to meet with you three just because I'm looking for an excuse to kill you. Believe me, if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead." Now, he turned to look at Moogoo. "I can understand you being more than a little bitter. After all, your family are the only people who were there BOTH times I wiped out human civilization. I am sorry about that."

"Sorry?!" Moogoo spat. "You can travel through time at will! If you were really SORRY, you'd go back and change things!"

"Can't do that." Levasos shook his head. "2600 A.D. was necessary to ensure the survival of the world, cruel as it may have seemed."

"And what about the first time?" Habeeb asked, sounding a lot more calm than Moogoo.

Levasos actually looked a bit sad now. "The first time, I was a young punk who had no appreciation for the consequences of his actions. Plus, I was badly injured and fearing for my life, so I was in no shape to be making rational decisions. Unfortunately, that incident was incredibly important in my development, so I can't change it either."

"What you're saying is," Leng finally spoke up, "Over 100,000 human lives aren't nearly as important as yours."

Levasos looked Leng right in the eye. At least, Leng THOUGHT those solid orange orbs were focused on him. "That's right, I am." Levasos said bluntly. "Especially when the fate of the whole universe is at stake. Now, in case you've misunderstood, I WILL be the one asking the questions here."

A slight smirk appeared on Leng's face. "I can't speak for my brothers, but you'll find ME a lot more cooperative if you answer one of my questions first. Honestly."

Levasos shrugged. "That sounds like a fair trade. What's your question?"

"The way father talked, he made it sound like your one and only purpose in The Cleansing is to end all suffering in the universe. But, that's really more of a side effect isn't it? Isn't your main goal actually to be able to control everything that happens in the universe?" Leng raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, it is." Levasos answered simply. The brothers were all too shocked by this admission to say anything right away. "Now, my turn to ask questions. You three are all incredibly strong for genetically pure humans, but... Seraphina is actually the embodiment of the ninth generation, isn't she?"

"What makes you think that?" Leng asked so quickly that Levasos was sure he was on to something.

"Because I fought with her a bit in my big scrap against Ertai, and no offense, but she was a lot stronger than any of you. Plus, she didn't even seem to realize it." Levasos explained.

"Is she okay?" Habeeb asked, sounding very worried.

"As far as I know." Levasos answered bluntly. "But something quite irritating happened. I opened a Gate at the end of the fight that was only supposed to pull Ertai in, because I wanted to capture Seraphina. Yet she was somehow sucked in as well. What actually concerns me though, is that I've so far been unable to reopen the Gate, or even time warp directly to that year." Now, Levasos looked back and forth between the brothers. "Any light you could shed on this would be appreciated."

Leng's brows knitted in confusion. "It's a surprise to me too. Unless Seraphina is actually a hero of the ages who's topped the thousand mark, and she's done an incredibly good job of keeping it a secret from her family her whole life, I have no idea how she would have pulled off something like that."

"I was afraid of that." Levasos sighed. "I'm fairly confident that there's only one hero in this planet's history who's topped the thousand mark, and he doesn't seem to have any interest in interfering with my plans, thankfully."

"Just what will you do when you do find Seraphina?" Moogoo asked suspiciously.

"Well, she absolutely cannot be allowed to have children, but otherwise, she's not strong enough to truly be dangerous to me." Levasos answered honestly.

"Hmm..." Leng thought about that. "What time did you send her to, anyway?"

There was a brief pause before Levasos answered. "2603 A.D."

"What, did you just want to rub it in?" Habeeb complained.

"I wasn't trying to send HER there at all!" Levasos reminded them. "The point was that, in the unlikely event Ertai survives the present I left in his body, 2603 would be a good example of what happens to anyone who opposes me."

"Well, you accidentaly picked a good time, for your purposes." Leng sighed. "I'm sure Seraphina will want to get out of there as soon as possible. Have you had problems warping to any other times?"

"No, I haven't." Levasos said, seemingly relieved.

"I'm sure you realize, Seraphina may not necessarily be the cause of this... time jamming." Leng pointed out.

"Yes, but we can't think of what else it might be." A new voice joined the conversation. Stepping through the same door Levasos had come through was Gazuga, hands calmly clasped behind his back.

"You bastard!!" Moogoo was instantly charging forward, hands already beginning to weave signs for magic.

"Whoah!" In the blink of an eye, Levasos had sent Moogoo sprawling to the floor with a backhanded fist to the face. "Let's keep it civilized here."

Moogoo quickly lurched back to his feet, but didn't charge forward again. "How dare you show your face in front of us?!" He demanded. "Mother died to save you, and this is how you honor her sacrifice?!"

"You've clearly been wanting to ask that for a long time, Moogoo." Gazuga observed calmly. "I am sorry, but we didn't understand what we were doing back when we were fighting Master Levasos."

"We were TRYING to save the world!" Habeeb reminded him.

"That's what we thought, but we were wrong." Gazuga replied. "What Levasos did was necessary to save humanity from itself, and now he's trying to save the entire universe from a God who's either apathetic or downright malicious."

"Which makes me wonder... With such grand plans, why would a relatively unthreatening girl like Seraphina even be on your radar?" Leng asked.

Gazuga snorted. "Leng, what a foolish thing to say, given that you've already heard him mention the ninth generation. Of course, I've already briefed Master Levasos on everything I know concerning the temporal project."

"I know what kind of power the tenth generation would theoretically have, if it were allowed to exist." Levasos said. "What concerns me now is is the possibility that the tenth generation already DOES exist."

"What? That's crazy! Seraphina's only fourteen!" Leng protested. "And if she HAD gotten pregnant, I'd like to think I would have noticed."

"She's fourteen in YOUR time reference." Levasos reminded him. "But for all we know, she may live out the rest of her life in times that are the future, relative to yours."

"Master, I have a feeling Leng is putting on an admittedly good act here." Gazuga said. "I'm fairly convinced that not only does the tenth generation exist, but that it's already doing some time traveling of its own. And I think they all know who it is."

"Hmm..." Levasos looked back and forth between the brothers, but their faces gave nothing away. Of course, Moogoo and Habeeb's faces were covered by masks, just like their father, and he couldn't even see Habeeb's eyes because of the visor. But Leng just stood still, looking mildly confused.

"Some mind control might prove helpful here." Gazuga suggested.

"It might indeed." Levasos admitted. "But I refuse to simply be a slave master. I want these three to come to understand on their own that helping me will lead to a better world."

"You are much more patient than I am, Master." Gazuga said simply.

"No kidding." Levasos responded dryly. "Habeeb, I think you should know that Jaguarena has offered to do 'whatever it takes' to get the information I need, but that I refused her offer."

"Well, um... Thanks, I guess." Habeeb said haltingly. "But is that just because you enjoy doing your own dirty work?"

"Ha!" Levasos smiled. "It could be. In any event, I'll give you three some time to ponder the consequences of joining me, or not."

"And what if, in the end, we choose 'not'?" Moogoo wondered.

"Then I'll still use you as bait to capture Seraphina." Levasos said. "But you won't be harmed. There's simply no need. Now if you'll excuse me, your father and I have quite a bit to do. Help yourselves to the refreshments. Jaguarena and The ArchMagus will be along to escort you back to your rooms soon." With that, Levasos and Gazuga turned and left through the same door they had come in.

"Well, thoughts?" Levasos asked.

"I'm surprised Moogoo was the only one who charged me." Gazuga admitted.

"I bet they all would have if I hadn't been there." Levasos smirked. "From a human point of view, your joining me was really cold."

"Speaking of really cold," Gazuga changed the subject, "If we do manage to get our hands on Seraphina, I recommend killing her right away."

"I admit to being puzzled by your vehemence on this subject." Levasos said.

"And I admit to being puzzled by your soft spot for human women." Gazuga shot back. "It's not that I enjoy the prospect, but she is simply too dangerous to our cause. Especially given that the tenth generation will not be the end of it. A hypothetical eleventh generation would be even stronger."

"I know it." Levasos sighed. "But judging from your descriptions, and what little I've seen for myself, she is a genuinely good person. Someone who deserves to be in that ideal world I want to create."

"But Master, if you become one with the universe, wouldn't it be a relatively simple matter to bring the dead back to life? Aren't you already planning to do that for Schala?" Gazuga wondered.

"One would think..." Levasos looked thoughtful. "But the future is never certain, even for Lavoids."

.

After several seconds had passed without Levasos or Gazuga suddenly returning to attack them, Moogoo let out a sigh of relief. "Whew... I don't know if I've ever heard such good news and such bad news at the same time."

'Don't say anything else out loud.' Leng thought at Moogoo and Habeeb. 'And keep your telepathy as focused as possible.'

'Sheesh, you've gotten paranoid.' Moogoo thought back.

'In this place, can you blame me?' Leng demanded. 'That meeting may not have been what it appeared to be. It's quite possible that Levasos knows a lot more, and he's playing a complicated game with us.'

'It's also possible that Levasos was being honest, and father is playing his hand very carefully.' Habeeb thought.

'As much as I don't want to give myself false hope, that does seem to be a possibility.' Leng admitted.

'But what would that mean, anyway? That he hasn't actually betrayed us?' Moogoo wondered.

'That's one possibility.' Leng nodded. 'It's also possible that HE wants to be the one who absorbs the universe, to take Levasos' place when the time comes. Or it could be that he really does support Levasos, but doesn't trust him all that much. In that case, he'd just be hedging his bets.'

'In any event, I'm amazed he actually admitted that he needs our help to get Seraphina.' Habeeb thought.

'Yes, and that's the good news.' Leng nodded again. 'The bad news is, we now have to face the very real possibility that Ertai is dead.'

'How could the timeline have changed so much from the projections?!' Moogoo demanded. 'The brothers weren't supposed to meet anywhere close to this early, and they weren't supposed to fight each other when they did meet!'

'No, they weren't supposed to.' Leng sighed. 'But time has never responded well to being controlled.'

'As long as we're complaining,' Habeeb cut in, 'Leng, wasn't your mission for Seraphina supposed to keep her occupied during the critical period?'

'It sure was.' Leng agreed. 'But either Gaudamus didn't do something he should have, or else Ertai's presence threw things off. He IS Levasos' brother, after all. Human or not, chaos follows that kid.'

'In any event, what do we do now?' Moogoo wondered.

'What we were already doing: We wait.' Leng thought. 'And we hope that Ertai manages to survive whatever the hell Levasos did to him.'

.

"Their souls were drawn to each other. They were destined to meet, through events that were destined to happen. But if that holds true for everything, then what possible reason could there be for us to struggle through life?" - Gilbert Durandal, _Gundam Seed Destiny_

(Nanaki's note: A couple of recent reviews have ironically noted that this story doesn't have many reviews. I have a working theory about why this is: sheer length. This story assumes that the reader already knows Schala's background, and to get that, you need to read all of Mount Woe, which is over 100,000 words long (And the upcoming Mount Woe Special Edition will be considerably longer). Plus, this story topped the 150,000 word mark less than two months after I started posting it at FFN. So, I'm willing to bet that the number of people who have read all 260,000+ words of my saga so far is actually fairly small. (A big thank you to everyone who has, by the way.) We're a long way from the heyday of Icy's, when Chrono Trigger was still a relatively new game, Icy updated three or four times a week, and you could pretty much count on getting AT LEAST one chapter per week of whatever story I was working on.

On top of that, I'm well aware that the bulk of FFN regulars are probably middle and high schoolers who are here to read the 2,000 word stories their friends have written about Naruto, Inu Yasha, and what not. (Not that I'm knocking either of those franchises. Hey, I even started an Inu Yasha fic after seeing movie 3, but the loss of my original computer put a damper on that.) So in short, the relative scarcity of reviews doesn't bother me. Random chance seems to play a role as well. What Makes A Hero still gets more hits than any of my other stories, yet has had no new reviews for years. While Aftermath of Mount Woe: Kash's World has yet to even top a hundred hits, but already has two reviews. As far as the total hits to reviews ratio goes, it's on top by a long shot. Anyway, I have a feeling that not just one, but several more chapters will be appearing here before the month is out, so keep your eyes peeled.)


	60. Ertai, The Corrupted

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 60: Ertai, The Corrupted**

By Nanaki

2603 A.D.

Seraphina awoke early in the morning, and quickly wished she hadn't. The sunlight shining in her eyes actually wasn't all that intense, so it was probably somewhat overcast. Her bed though, such as it was, had not done her any favors during the night. It had taken her hours to actually fall asleep on the raft deck that was hard and splintering despite its semi-rotten condition. Plus, while she actually had been asleep, her body, already bruised from yesterday's activities, had gotten much more sore and stiff, so now she could barely move without throbbing pain suddenly shooting through her body.

Of course, she had the power to heal herself, but she was saving up all the winds of magic in the area for use on Ertai. Even though she was well aware that she wasn't really the reason he was still alive, she was casting healing spells on him as often as she could. "Ertai... Ugh..." She sat up with a groan, wincing as some of her hair caught in the wood of the raft, and was yanked out of her head. It seemed that at some point during the night, her left foot had slipped into one of the holes she'd made in the raft, as it was now thoroughly soaked. Plus, to judge from the blood that now coated the legs of her combat suit in various places, the scrapes her legs had sustained when they had initially gone through the raft had been worse than she'd imagined. "Ah... I'm a mess..." She groaned. Nevertheless, after just a few seconds of self pity, she leaned over to check on Ertai.

He was breathing, and his pulse seemed steady, which was a miracle in itself. His fever still seemed high, but some of that could have been because she herself was very cold, after spending a night on the open ocean in not completely dry conditions. It probably would have been better if they had spent the night huddled up together under the remains of the sail, but she hadn't wanted to make it any harder for him to breathe. Well that, and she was also afraid of catching whatever insanely fast-acting disease it was Levasos had infected him with. Well... that, and she'd never actually spent a night huddled up with a guy anyway.

Yesterday, Ertai had apparently died, his heart and lungs both non-functional. Then, something that should have been impossible happened: From a point where he should have been too far gone to have any control over magic, he'd somehow cast a spell that magically pumped his heart and caused his lungs to breathe in a steady rhythm. Seraphina had no idea how to cast a spell like that, but when it wore off, Ertai's body had apparently recovered enough to resume those functions on its own. Seraphina had cast healing magic on him repeatedly since then, and it was probably helping, but at the end of the day Ertai had saved his own life.

Now Seraphina took a look at the waves of magic flowing through his body, to see if Ertai had woken up at some point in the night and cast anything on himself. What she found made her involuntarily scoot backwards in shock. Ertai's body was full of magic, all right, but it was the same kind of magic that Levasos drew on. Leng hadn't filled her in on all the details about Lavoid magic, but she knew that they drew their power from a source that humans weren't able to access. Why Ertai's body might suddenly be overflowing with that power, she had no idea. True, she had heard Levasos refer to Ertai as "brother" more than once yesterday, but she was willing to bet that if Ertai were part Lavoid, he would exhibit some outward sign of it. She imagined a being with blue skin and hair, orange irises, and a very small nose. No, there had to be some other explanation here.

Suddenly, Ertai's right hand shot up to his forehead, and a loud groan escaped his mouth. "Hey, good morning. Such as it is." Seraphina said softly. Ertai turned to look at her, and she was horrified to see that the irises of his eyes were the exact orange color she had just pictured in her imagination.

"Argh! Ugh!" Ertai was clearly trying to speak, but no discernable words were coming out. He thrashed back and forth on the wood of the raft, and Seraphina backed up some more as most of Ertai's hair fell out of his head as he moved. Even as she watched, Ertai's nose seemed to be receding into his face, and odd studs of flesh were forming on his scalp where his hair had previously been.

"Ertai, you..." Seraphina found that she had backed up to the opposite edge of the raft. "You're being overtaken by the Lavoid energy! You have to fight it!" She realized that a space of about eight feet wasn't going to make much difference, and crawled back over to Ertai's side. "The man I saw fight Levasos yesterday would never let himself succumb to something like this! Come on, you have to fight!" She yelled, pounding her fists on her knees in frustration. Once again, there didn't seem to be anything she could do to help. Once again, it was all up to Ertai...

.

On the inside, Ertai was telling himself much the same thing. Last night, as his consciousness had been swiftly slipping away, he'd recalled what Levasos had said about the Lavoid immune system being able to eliminate diseases that were fatal to humans. Already being too far gone to tap into the normal winds of magic, he'd made a last, desperate attempt to draw power from the same source he'd sensed Levasos drawing power from, and against all odds, it had worked.

He'd lost consciousness for who knew how long, and he wasn't entirely sure that he was actually conscious again now, but he seemed more aware of things. However, what he was mainly aware of was an alien presence nibbling away at his thoughts. The presence wasn't really aware in the traditional sense of the word, but it seemed to whisper promises to him anyway. Promises of incredible power, immortality, entire worlds being mere playthings compared to his might... And if he accepted that power, the ability to defeat Levasos would be his. The ability to remake reality the way he wanted it to be would be his... All he had to do was allow the power to become part of his being. It was that simple.

"So, this is how it ends?" Ertai heard what sounded like a spoken voice in his head, startling him back to some degree of coherency. If he focused, he could make out the image of a young man with spikey black hair, dressed in an orange gi. Though whether Ertai was seeing with his eyes or with his mind, he didn't know. "To defeat your enemy, you'll become something even worse?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Ertai wondered. "I've tried being nice! I've tried fighting with honor, and they've both almost gotten me killed! If I were to become the worst villain this universe has ever seen, at least I'D be the one in charge!"

"Get real! You really think this watered-down aspect of Chaos you suddenly have access to would make you that strong? That must be what it's telling you..."

"Who are you, anyway?" Ertai demanded.

"I'm you, dummy!" The black haired youth replied impatiently. "And if you become a Farilii, you probably would be able to beat Levasos, but only because you're pretty close to that level already. There's no way in hell you'd stand a chance against Laria, never mind Pyriorias."

"What's a Farilii?" Ertai wondered.

"In short, it's a human who gives himself completely to the energy of Chaos. Or more accurately, the controlled form of Chaos that Lavoids utilize. But believe me, Lavoids keep a VERY tight reign on the energy their Farilii actually have access to. The fact that your transformation has begun without Levasos knowing would grant you a small advantage in terms of surprise, but after about five seconds of fighting him, he'd completely cut you off, and you'd be back to your old self anyway."

"Who ARE you?" Ertai demanded again. "What do you mean, you're me?! In case you couldn't tell, I'm blonde, and you look older than me, anyway!"

The black haired young man chuckled. "Surely you've heard something about the heroes of the ages by now. Those whose souls are reincarnated over and over again, to fight for humanity whenever it's necessary."

"You're telling me I'm a hero, and you're one of my former lives?" Ertai asked in astonishment.

"Officially, no." The black haired man smirked. "When I was alive, I eventually grew to be the single most powerful human being who ever existed, though the fact that I was actually only half human definitely helped. As part of a treaty with the Lavoids, it was agreed that my soul would NEVER be reincarnated. And yet, here you are."

"So what happened?" Ertai demanded.

"I wish I knew." Ertai's other self shrugged. "Clearly, someone didn't care for the treaty. If the Lavoids find out who you truly are, they'll be very upset. Unless, of course, you're already under the influence of their power. Then, you'll most likely become a Farilii of Laria, and she'll be ecstatic."

"What exactly do you want me to do?" Ertai asked, sounding more exasperated than angry.

"I want you to fight it!" His other self responded instantly. "Hold on tight to what you are, and keep working hard to become stronger. At the end of the day, your have the potential to become much stronger as a pure human than you could ever be as a slave of Lavoids. After all, you can't destroy Buu when you've been absorbed by him, and you can't topple an evincar with his own flowstone."

"What the HELL are you talking about?" Ertai demanded.

"It's an ANALOGY, Numbnuts!" Ertai's other self finally seemed to grow impatient. "I think you'll understand what I mean soon enough. But the choice you face here is ultimately the choice you face with any form of power: Will you control it, or will you let it control you?"

.

To Seraphina's dismay, Ertai's nose had now completely disappeared, and his skin had a noticeably bluish tint. He had been still for a while, but now he began to move again, and she was pretty sure this wasn't a good thing. "I... won't..." He whispered.

"Won't what, Ertai?" She asked. It might have been a good sign that he could actually form words again, but she was preparing to defend herself against him if necessary. Ertai made no response, but his body began to levitate up off the deck of the raft, up to about five feet in the air.

"I won't..." Ertai whispered again, then a pained look appeared on his blue face. "I won't be a slave!!" He suddenly cried out. "I... AM... HUMAN!!!" At this, a blinding flash of light burst out from his body, which slowly faded away. His body slowly drifted back down to the deck, his skin back to its normal hue. Seraphina quickly scooted over to check on him, and found that his nose was back where it should be. While his hair hadn't reappeared, the grotesque studs of flesh that had covered his head were gone as well. She put a hand on his forehead to see if there was any change in the fever, and his eyes fluttered open. She was relieved to see that his irises were back to their usual blue. Though come to think of it, she actually couldn't remember what his normal eye color was. At any rate, blue was a lot better than that creepy orange had been. "Good morning." He croaked weakly.

"Good morning yourself." Seraphina breathed out in a relieved sigh. "Your fever seems to have gone down..."

"Thanks for watching over me." Ertai said softly. "And thanks for telling me... what I needed to hear."

"Well, you're welcome." Seraphina nodded. "I wasn't sure if you could actually hear anything I said."

"I'm not sure I did, in the traditional sense." Ertai shrugged, his eyes closing again. "But your message definitely got through, just the same." A soft smile appeared on his face. "It seems that we reversed our roles from last time, didn't we Belbe?"

Seraphina's brows knitted in confusion. "No, Ertai. I'm Seraphina, remember?"

"I remember..." Ertai whispered, seeming to be well on his way to sleep again. "But you remind me of someone I used to know... a long time ago..." Ertai's head rolled over to one side, and he was clearly asleep again.

"Well then, get some actual rest." Seraphina gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. "I'll save the lecture on the importance of remembering a lady's name until later..."

.

Ertai's eyes fluttered open to find bright sunlight streaming down into his face. However, he wasn't hot, as a substantial breeze was also blowing over him. Sitting up, he found Seraphina seated at the relative front of the raft, her eyes closed in concentration. The tattered sail was still covering him, yet the raft was clearly moving at a decent speed. She must have been using water magic to create a current. Looking up at the sky again, Ertai found that it was more of a dirty yellow than a healthy blue, and off in the distance, the ocean simply blended into the haze, instead of forming a visible horizon. "Urgh... Where are we?" He groaned, not really expecting an answer.

"I wish I knew." Seraphina answered calmly. "I'm heading as near to straight east as I can, but I have no clue how close we are to land. We might just be heading out to deeper water."

"At least you got us moving." Ertai shrugged, scratching his head. "What the...? Where the hell did my hair go?"

"You'll probably be happier not knowing." Seraphina responded.

"I can guess... I bet it was a side effect of the Lavoid energy." Ertai realized. "Wow, I'm really thirsty, AND I really have to go to the bathroom! How unfair is that?"

"You seem back to your usual self." Seraphina giggled. "Hard to believe that last night you were technically dead."

"More than once, even." Ertai nodded.

"That's right..." Seraphina realized. "I forgot about when Levasos got you with my sword. How DID you survive that, anyway?"

Ertai shrugged. "I used my chi to maintain my heart's structural integrity. Same for my spinal column. So, all the damage was non-fatal, and an elixir cleared it right up."

"You realize, to be able to control you chi at that level is virtually unheard of." Seraphina said dryly.

"Ah, I have a similar knack when it comes to teleporting." Ertai grinned.

"What the? Then why didn't you teleport ONCE in the fight last night?" Seraphina demanded.

"Always keep something in reserve." Ertai said simply. "Until the fight's rather abrupt end, he hadn't pushed me hard enough to make me start teleporting." Now, he stood up. "Anyway, I really do have to go, so if you could not look over here for a minute..." She heard the sound of his combat suit unzipping.

"Why, is there something you're ashamed of?" She teased him, though her eyes remained closed.

"On the contrary Darlin'. I just didn't want you to faint." Ertai shot back over his shoulder.

"Hey, nice comeback." Seraphina laughed.

"So..." Ertai zipped back up, then gingerly walked over to the front of the raft and sat down next to Seraphina. "It seems to me that unless we hit land by the end of today, we need to abandon this raft and get flying."

"Probably." Seraphina sighed. "But flight carries its own set of problems. Unless... can you go supersonic?"

"No." Ertai shook his head. "My top speed is around three hundred miles per hour."

"And I can barely get above two hundred." Seraphina nodded. "Plus, how long can you stay airborne?"

"I've never really tested that out." Ertai admitted. "Billy mainly focused on incorporating flight into martial arts."

"I can maybe go two hours without needing to rest." Seraphina said. "Which gives me an effective range of about four hundred miles. Now, if we've ended up in the middle of the Iapetus Ocean, we might be over three thousand miles from the nearest land."

"That's a problem." Ertai leaned back, resting his weight on his arms. "But, we need to make a choice soon. Humans can go for a while without food, but water is a different story."

"Well then, let's hope we hit land soon." Seraphina said calmly. "Because the idea of flying off into the unknown isn't very appealing." Now, her eyes finally opened, and she turned to look at Ertai. "Oh, and thanks for keeping your promise."

"Huh?" Ertai looked confused. "I made you a promise?"

"Now YOU don't remember?" Seraphina groaned. "Well, you did. You promised that I wouldn't be alone."

"Oh, right." Ertai smiled softly. "Well, you're welcome."

.

"Don't let it control you." - Charles Xavier, last words, _X3: The Last Stand_

(Nanaki's note: Well, after seven years and four months, we're FINALLY out of the (bleep)ing 50s. I remember that I finished Chapter 50 somewhere around March 10th, 2002, and I've only now brought a resolution to the cliffhanger that chapter introduced. Life has royally kicked my ass since then, but the last couple years have been pretty stable, so hopefully the increased productivity of the last couple weeks will stick around for a while.)


	61. Awakened Powers

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 61: Awakened Powers**

By Nanaki

The End of Time

Schala and Silva had already gone through the mysterious door behind Keldon's torch pillar, when Lion suddenly put a hand on Tempo's shoulder. "Hold on a second."

"What's up?" Tempo asked, not taking his eyes off the open door, which looked completely black. He couldn't see any sign of the girls on the other side, which made him a little uneasy.

"There's something I can't help wondering about. Between just now and Leng's fortress, Schala has given us a fair amount of the pieces to her puzzle..."

Tempo instantly had a joke ready to go in response, but since Lion didn't seem to care much for his sense of humor, he decided to just keep it to himself. "Yeah?"

"So, am I alone in thinking that she was 'killed' by her own mother?" Lion finally voiced the thought that had been nagging at his mind.

"No." Tempo answered right away, actually surprised that it had taken Lion this long to figure it out. "But such things are fairly common among royalty, at least in our world's history. It stands to reason that any other planet populated by humans wouldn't be too different."

"That part's true enough." Lion admitted. "But Schala doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would kill just to seize power. Or who would kill for any reason other than self-defense, as far as I can tell."

Tempo shrugged. "Well, she said her mother was possessed by Lavos. But whatever happened, it's not really any of our business. Where are you going with this, anyway?"

"I know it's none of our business." Lion sighed. "But I just can't help but wonder... Man, what the hell has she been through?"

"Too much." Tempo answered simply. "But then, so have we all."

Lion looked like he was about to say something else, but then, Silva's head and upper torso reappeared through the black doorway. "What are you guys waiting for? You've gotta come see this!" Without another word, they both walked into the pitch black door.

.

The other side of the door was anything but pitch black. Gently rolling grassy hills sloped away to a horizon that seemed to be too close, somehow. The sky was filled with an apparently endless supply of moons, all of them full. The sky itself was a purply pink color, looking like it was just before dawn, but the color seemed to be uniform in every direction, so Tempo had no real idea what direction the sun might rise from, if there even was a sun. "What... is this place?" He wondered out loud.

"A place where the living usually aren't allowed, among many other restrictions." A new voice answered him. "But, when the entire universe is in danger, exceptions are made." Tempo's eyes found the speaker, and he wasn't sure what to think. The being was basically humanoid in shape, but his skin was a bright green, with patches of a tough looking pink on the arms. Instead of hair, his head was topped with a pair of antennae, and hovering above that, a HALO, of all things. He was dressed in baggy, comfortable looking clothing.

"What... I mean, WHO are you?" Tempo finally asked.

"That... is a long story." The green being said simply. "My name is Timpini, but what I am to you, is the awakener of power."

"And why would you be wanting to 'awaken' our power?" Lion wondered.

"Because the Elder calculated that there was a ninety five percent chance that you won't be strong enough to stop Levasos at your current levels of strength." He responded patiently.

"We'll get stronger before we face him." Tempo grinned. "He'll make the classic bad guy mistake of sending wave after wave of incompetent flunkies for us to practice on."

"That IS a likely possibility." Timpini admitted. "But is that really a chance you can afford to take? Especially when the fate of the universe is at stake?"

"If the fate of the entire universe is truly at stake, why don't you or this Elder help us fight Levasos?" Schala wondered.

"Because we're dead." Timpini answered bluntly. "Even in extreme circumstances such as this, there are very strict rules about what the dead can do in the world of the living. Just bringing you here is bending those rules to the breaking point."

"So just what do you mean when you say you're the awakener of power?" Tempo wondered.

"I mean it literally." Timpini explained. "All of you, no matter how much you've trained, have a certain amount of power that still lies dormant within you. Well, except you." He turned to regard Schala. "As you're not technically alive right now, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you at the moment. If I brought out the hidden potential of the Nooze, I'm afraid the power gain would be minimal compared to the way it would reduce the time you have left... And you don't have much time as it is."

"Let's just... leave it alone then." Schala said, frowning, and Timpini nodded.

"But you, Lion, I can definitely do something with. Even as experienced as you are controlling your chi, I can still open your eyes to some new possibilities."

"Chi?" Lion wondered. "My power is controlling solar energy."

Timpini smiled patiently. "The source of your incredible power may be the sun, but inside your body, it turns into chi. But, it'll be easier if I just show you. Step closer."

Lion shrugged. "If you say so. What do I have to do?"

"Just relax, and try to breathe normally." Timpini smiled, placing the palm of his right hand on Lion's forehead. A second later, Timpini was encased in a roaring fire, but a roaring fire that was pure white. Lion's eyes widened in surprise, then he was encased in the white fire as well.

"What the...?" Tempo momentarily wondered if this had all been some kind of trap, but he had barely taken a step forward when the white fire vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Timpini slowly removed his hand from Lion's forehead, looking a bit winded.

Lion, however, was looking at his hands as if he'd never seen them before. "This is..." He paused to take a deep breath. "This is incredible! Huagh!" He instantly rocketed into the air, surrounded once again by his trademark yellow glow. "RAAAAHH!" He began throwing a furious series of blurred kicks and punches, moving so fast that even Tempo couldn't see exactly what he was doing. After about thirty seconds of darting around in the sky, Lion slowly sank back down to the ground. "Heheheh. Wow, this is something else." He turned to Timpini. "Sorry if I sounded skeptical. But it's like you condensed years of training into a single moment! How is that even possible?"

"Lots of practice, mainly." Timpini shrugged. Then, he turned slightly to the right. "Now for you, Silva."

"Me?" Silva pointed at herself. "You think **I** can do anything like that?"

"I know you can." Timpini smiled. "I wasn't sure based on what I heard from Keldon, but now that you're actually here, I can tell. You've got basically nothing BUT hidden power. Fortunately, you've got a LOT."

"If you say so..." Silva slowly walked up to stand in front of him.

"Just relax now." Timpini said gently as he placed his hand on her forehead. A moment later, the pure white fire appeared again, and encased them both. The others noticed that this process seemed to be lasting a good deal longer than Lion's turn had, but just as Tempo was about to ask if anything was wrong, the fire dissipated into the air. Again, Timpini's posture slumped forward, and he seemed a bit tired.

Silva, on the other hand, was looking at the palms of her hands, just as Lion had done. "This is... insane." She whispered. Then, she crouched down, her whole body tensing up.

"Uh oh." Timpini exclaimed as he realized that she wasn't about to head skyward, like Lion had done. "Everybody brace yourself!" He called out.

Silva suddenly thrust her hands skyward, and the world seemed to go crazy. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The ground was shaking, large clumps of earth were sent flying, and a howling wind began to emanate from her direction. Schala and Tempo were instantly knocked off their feet, while even Lion had to focus hard on his own power to stay upright. However, out of the corner of his eye, Lion noticed that Timpini remained standing calmly where he had been, his clothes not even rippling in the fierce wind. Then, Lion's eyes snapped back to Silva, who had suddenly turned in his direction. "Hey Lion, catch!" She cried out happily. Lion's eyes widened as a large ball of energy appeared between her outstretched hands. She thrust her hands forward, and the energy raced his way, surprisingly fast.

Lion didn't try to hide the smirk that appeared on his face as he easily batted the attack away. It landed a few hundred yards away, resulting in a large and noisy explosion. "Hey, not bad." He nodded. "But you've got a ways to go before you catch up with me." He slid his hands into his pockets. Privately though, he was astonished. He was pretty sure that if Timpini hadn't improved his own powers first, he would have had quite a bit of trouble deflecting that blast.

"Sheez, I didn't expect THAT." Tempo cracked his neck as he got back to his feet. Schala decided to stay in a sitting position on the grass, because she was pretty sure Tempo's imminent power-up would just send her flying again. Tempo slowly walked up to Timpini, looking surprisingly reluctant, or so Lion thought. "And what about me?" Tempo asked simply.

Timpini turned toward Tempo with a grin on his face. "Judging by what I've heard from Keldon, you have the ability to use magic waves in very chi-like ways. However, I find that it's better to use your magic like MAGIC, and your CHI like chi." Timpini's expression turned serious. "Also, I can tell that if I brought out your FULL power, it would be too much for you to control. So, I'm just going to give you a good start."

"I was afraid you'd say... something like that." Tempo forced a nervous smile onto his face. "All right then, let's do it."

"Just relax now." Timpini said as he put his hand on Tempo's forehead. A second later, twin bursts of pure white fire engulfed them both. In Tempo's case though, the fire didn't stay pure white, but flames of green could occasionally be seen as well. The fire remained around them longer than it had for Lion, but not as long as it had for Silva, then it simply disippated into the air. Timpini actually sucked in a gasp of air, and he looked a little dizzy.

Tempo simply stood there for a moment, wide eyed. "Good God." He whispered. Then, he took off into the sky just as Lion had done. He had only ever flown before when he was very angry, without really thinking about it, but now, it was effortless. In fact, he still didn't have to think about it much. Tempo reached what he thought was a safe distance away from the others, then he tensed up and started to bring out his power. He had told himself that he wasn't going to yell like a jackass, but it felt so incredible that he couldn't help himself. "BWAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHH!"

"Man!" Lion held up a hand to shield his eyes against the blinding green light that Tempo had become. The ground was vibrating noticeably, and the air was filled with a deep thrumming sound. Bolts of green lightning began to emanate from Tempo, fortunately not reaching all the way down to the ground.

Tempo ceased his yell and took several deep breaths, then called down to the ground. "Hey Lion! Give me your best shot!"

"You're gonna get hurt!" Lion called back. But he knew, even as he said it, that it wasn't true.

"Just do it!" Tempo called again. "Silva, you too! Give me everything you've got!"

Lion and Silva looked at each other, then shrugged simultaneously. "Haah!" "Yaaaaah!" Two huge beams of energy rushed up at Tempo, who vanished in an enormous midair explosion. However, when the energy had dissipated, Tempo was exactly where he had been, his green fire still blazing. He remained that way for a few seconds, then the green fire disappeared, and he dropped back toward the ground. Lion noticed that there seemed to be smoke drifting up from Tempo's clothes, only the smoke was GLOWING. Also, the deep thrum that had filled the air didn't disappear right away, but slowly got quieter over the course of several seconds.

"Wow." Schala was the first to say anything. "I think you've got a reason to be cocky now."

"Actually," Tempo turned to face her, "NOW I'm worried."

"What?" Lion frowned in puzzlement. "Why are you worried now, if you weren't before?"

Tempo looked thoughtful for a moment as he searched for the best words to articulate his thoughts. "I thought I was finally making my own choice about whether to continue on this bizarre little quest, but this feels too much like... destiny, I guess." He frowned. "Why should I be the one to gain so much power, at least compared to the others?"

"THAT, is a good question." Timpini nodded.

"I don't suppose you know the answer to that question?" Tempo turned back toward Timpini.

"Not entirely." Timpini said vaguely. "However, I can assure you that it's not destiny so much as... the willpower of your ancestors, I would say. Beyond that, I probably shouldn't say any more."

Tempo's eyes narrowed. "Levasos said something like that during that messed up dream I had. Something like: 'From ten generations before you were born, your family has been bred specifically with the task of killing me.' Don't tell me he was actually telling the truth!"

"Hmm... I don't know if I'd be that black and white about it." Timpini shrugged. "But in general, he is right."

"But..." Tempo looked dumbfounded. "If this power is some kind of... genetic legacy..." Tempo looked like he didn't quite know what to say again. "Then... there's no way my mother would have died the way she did! No way!"

Timpini raised an eyeridge. "What makes you so sure you inherited this power from your mother?" He asked pointedly.

Tempo tilted his head slightly, as if he actually hadn't realized he'd jumped to that conclusion. "It's just... My dad may be a competent soldier, but there's no way he could do anything like what I just did." Timpini was clearly struggling to supress laughter now. "What's so damn funny?" Tempo demanded.

"I think you'll find out eventually." Timpini answered calmly. "But right now, I think you ought to get a move on. You don't have a lot of time to waste if you want to get the Masamune before Schala turns into a statue."

"What makes you so sure I won't go directly to Levasos?" Schala raised an eyebrow. "After all, even if I do recharge the Nooze first, it won't improve my chances against him a whole lot."

Timpini smiled at her now. "I'm sure you won't go directly to Levasos because you're not an idiot." He replied bluntly. "But I will say this. Even if you end up in a situation where you're a lot closer to Levasos than the Masamune, I think you should still go after the Masamune. I think you'll be glad you did."

"And just what makes you think that?" Schala wondered.

"Oh, just intuition, I guess." Timpini shrugged.

"Yeah, right. You know WAY more than you're telling us." Tempo snorted. "But, I'm also pretty sure you're not going to tell us any more. So, let's go." He started heading back to the doorway.

"Well..." Lion watched him go, then turned back to Timpini. "I don't know exactly what he's so mad about, but at least one of us should say thank you. So, thanks for your help."

"You're welcome." Timpini nodded. "And I don't blame him for being mad, but at the same time, there are some things people are happier not knowing."

"Like the fact that your mother's death was unavoidable, even if she had incredible powers?" Lion guessed insightfully.

"Like that, for instance." Timpini answered skillfully, not confirming if Lion's guess was right or not. "By the way, if you find yourselves with some new friends in your group, bring them here to meet me. I may not be able to pump everyone up like Tempo, but I can still help."

"Thanks, I'll remember that." Lion nodded, then turned to head back toward the door as well. Schala stood up and followed, and Silva fell into step behind them.

Timpini waited until they had all gone through the door before speaking again. "And if you find yourselves losing a friend..." He whispered, "Stay strong."

.

"How can someone be THAT strong?" - Kibito Kai, _Dragon Ball Z_

.

(Nanaki's note: Boy, if I had Goku's Super Saiyan 3 theme stuck in my head at the end of Kash's World's second chapter, I definitely had Mystic Gohan's theme thundering in my mind here. Also, for some reason FFN won't let me put more than once exclamation point at the end of a sentence. So, most of the shouts in this chapter were actually louder than implied. Anyway, as you've probably noticed, it's been a while. Why? I can't give you a single, clear-cut answer. Part of it is, I was still bothered by the continuity problem I mentioned at the end of chapter 57. While I had come up with a solution, I had really written myself into a corner, and the solution made it obvious that I was writing myself OUT of a corner. So, I approached the problem again with a philosophy of: "Don't just undo, make something new." Now I've got a solution that I'm actually fairly happy with, plus I think it will be both more poignant and more satisfying than my original plan was. Nevertheless, it won't be coming up in the story for quite a while.

I think the bottom line is, I refuse to let Tempo Trigger become a burden, or a chore. Based on my productivity during 1997 and 1998, this story really should have been finished in 2002 or 2003, but for a variety of reasons, life just didn't work out that neatly. There have been moments when I was tempted to just say, "fuck it," write a summary chapter of everything else that would have happened, and just END it already. However, I really don't want to do that either. In addition to being a disservice to the readers, it would be a disservice to myself as well, because I know, deep down, that this story still has the potential to be the best thing I've ever written. So what if Gundam Seed Destiny beat me to the punch and released Levasos in human form, in the guise of Gilbert Durandal? I still think all the intricacies of Levasos' plans will prove to be quite a shock, once you find out about them. And so what if it's taking utterly forever to actually write down? It took Tolkien forever and a day to write Lord of the Rings, and he never actually finished The Silmarillion. Yet, if there's one author from the 20th century that college students still have to read 1,000 years from now, I'd bet that Tolkien will be the one.

However, I'm pretty sure that if I try to force myself to hurry the hell up already, I will reach that point where it becomes more of a job than a pleasure, and I just want to forget about it. While giving myself self-imposed deadlines does work on occasion, like when I forced myself to write a chapter of Christmas in the Lost Ground every five days in order to actually have it done by Christmas, I don't think that's going to cut it as a long term solution. When I'm really in the zone with this story, I don't have to force it, anyway. I did twenty three chapters of this story in the first year I worked on it, in addition to the second half of What Makes A Hero, and I did chapters 38-50 in one four month period in early 2002. Besides, my writing productivity for the last year has been decent... just not for this story. Since I last posted a chapter of Tempo Trigger, I've written six chapters of Christmas in the Lost Ground, plus fourteen chapters of Return of the Sith. (Which is kind of turning into a Tempo Trigger by proxy, so to speak. Jerin and Tempo have an awful lot in common.) In addition, I've also been writing up a non-fictional account of the three weeks I spent in Egypt this January. So, I can't really tell you when the next Tempo Trigger chapter will appear. I will say that I'll try not to keep you waiting for an entire year again, at least.

On a separate note, with all the clues I've been giving out in recent chapters, I'm sure some of you had a "Holy crap! No way!" moment in this one. If you did figure out one of the big secrets, please don't spoil it for everyone else by mentioning it in the reviews. Thanks. And if you're wondering how in hell it's even remotely possible, you WILL find out, don't worry. Until next time, whenever that is, this is Nanaki, signing off.)


	62. Tyrant Lizard Kings

**Tempo Trigger**

**Chapter 62: Tyrant Lizard Kings**

By Nanaki

The End of Time

As Schala stepped back onto the cobblestones of the end of time, she noticed that the three beds they'd spent the night on had disappeared. Keldon was back at his usual spot at the base of the torch pillar. "So, was it worth the trip?" He asked.

"We'll see." Tempo answered crankily.

"Never mind him. It definitely was." Silva grinned.

"Anyway, we've spent enough time around here. Let's get going already." Tempo gestured toward where the Skyshroud Ranger was parked.

"I agree with that." Lion took the lead as they headed down to the ship. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can get back to Tess and Sabre." Tempo briefly wondered if there was something he couldn't wait to go back to when this adventure was over. He decided there wasn't anything. In fact, daily life as a Soultech soldier was going to seem pretty damn boring by comparison.

Schala was having a similar train of thought, but she was wondering if there was any point to surviving the coming battle in the first place. Perhaps saving other worlds as she planned on saving this one... But as noble as that goal was, it wasn't a PERSONAL reason, and she found it didn't inspire much motivation. Deep down, she was aware that there was still a part of her that craved the death she had been denied the night she and Greven had been killed by Queen Zeal. That same part that had made her throw herself out the window the next morning and royally freak out Janus was still alive in her, she just hadn't been paying much attention to it lately. Plus, since she literally COULDN'T die, there wasn't much point in dwelling on those thoughts anyway. 'So then why are you so worried about that stone toe?' She asked herself. 'I guess not wanting to be alive anymore and actually facing death are two different things.' She realized.

Lion seemed to pick up on the morose reaction his comment had caused. "Uh, sorry guys." He grinned sheepishly as he turned around. "I didn't mean to bring everybody down."

"It's not your fault." Tempo shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm glad one of us has something to look forward to." Schala agreed.

"Hey, there is at least one good thing about heading to 70 million B.C." Lion tried to lighten the mood. "There's a pretty good chance we'll see some dinosaurs." He pointed out as he opened the door to the ship.

"Pretty good?" Tempo asked skeptically. "Unless we spend all our time there in the arctic, we definitely WILL see some dinosaurs."

"What's a dinosaur?" Schala wondered.

"Giant lizards, basically." Silva answered.

"That's... not even kind of correct." Tempo shook his head as he stepped into the Ranger. He was a bit underwhelmed, as the ship looked exactly like it had before, aside from a new control panel. "While most dinosaurs probably looked reptilian, they were warm-blooded and lived in all kinds of climates. Some of them were probably the ancestors of today's birds."

"A word of advice: Don't get Tempo talking about dinosaurs." Silva informed the other two. "He was obsessed with them when he was a kid. He still is, in fact, but he hides it better now."

"So what's wrong with that, anyway?" Tempo shrugged. Silva didn't seem to have a ready retort for that.

"Hmmm..." Lion ran his hands over the new controls as he settled down in the pilot's seat. "Well, this is user-friendly to the point of being irritating." He pointed to a large clock-like display with the words "time gauge" printed above it. The needle of the gauge was currently all the way at the top notch, marked "End of Time". Below that was Lion's time, 3500 A.D., then Tempo and Silva's, 1995 A.D. After that, things started to get interesting. Next was 1855 A.D., then 975 A.D., then 8,000 B.C. Finally, the last labeled notch was marked with 70 million B.C. However, there were several more unlabeled notches under that, making it look like new times could be added to the lineup if necessary.

"Now that's interesting." Tempo pointed at 8,000 B.C. "I doubt Keldon would have programmed those two in there just for the hell of it."

"No way." Lion agreed. "Something tells me our final confrontation with Levasos won't be in the prehistoric age after all."

"I guess we should have seen that coming." Silva let out a small sigh as she sat down. "Levasos does have the power to travel through time at will, after all."

"Well then, should we even go right to Levasos' lair, or should we see what we can find out in the other times first?" Lion wondered.

Tempo thought that over for a second. "No. For Schala's sake, we need to go somewhere we know we can find Lavoid energy. The only source we know of besides Levasos is in 70 million B.C. So, that's where we need to go."

Lion shrugged. "You're the boss. Apparently." He smirked.

"Do you really disagree?" Tempo looked surprised.

"Well," Schala spoke up, "It might not be a bad idea to scout around the other times first, and see what we can find out."

"Ironic as this may sound from someone standing in a time machine, we don't have time to waste." Tempo shook his head. "I have a feeling we'll end up in those other times soon enough." He sighed. "For now, let's do what we planned on doing."

"All right then." Lion's hands began flying over the controls, and the Skyshroud Ranger began to power up. "Here we go!" The ship began to gently drift away from the cobblestone platforms. Soon enough, the dark mists of the end of time were replaced by the swirling blue waves of time warp.

.

70 Million B.C.

Just a few seconds later, the blue waves quickly dissipated to reveal nothing but sunlit jungle as far as the eye could see. There were a few hills in the distance, but these were covered with trees as well. "All right, let's land for a bit before we charge right at him." Tempo suggested.

"What do you think that will accomplish?" Lion asked, though he was already circling the ship around, looking for something resembling a clear spot to land.

"Let's put our new powers to work and try to sense exactly where he is." Tempo replied. "Plus, Keldon said Levasos made sure there were no Gates leading to this time, so I'm betting he'll have some way of sensing that someone just time traveled here. We should lay low for a little bit in case he sends someone to check things out."

"I guess that makes sense." Lion admitted. "But what if he comes to investigate himself?"

"Then that'll save me some trouble." Schala said with a grim smile.

"All right, that looks like it'll do." Lion guided the ship toward a section of forest that looked like a fire had swept through it not long ago. New ferns and small trees had already sprung up around the scorched trunks of the old trees, most of which had fortunately fallen down. Lion expertly set the ship down between the few that remained standing, and quickly powered the engines down. As the main door whooshed open, everyone took a deep breath.

"Oh wow, that is FRESH air." Silva remarked.

"It should be." Tempo nodded as he stood up. "The atmosphere in this time has a higher percentage of oxygen than what we're used to."

Silva's eyebrows furrowed in thought, even as a smile appeared on her face. "You learned that from studying dinosaurs, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah." Tempo shrugged. "And again, what's wrong with that? Besides, I bet that knowledge is going to come in handy pretty soon." Tempo stepped out of the ship into a field of knee high ferns. At the edge of the burned clearing, an ancient forest that never had and never would see loggers soared into the air, vines wrapping around most of the trunks. The air was warm and humid, the temperature barely dropping when a towering thunderhead drifted in front of the sun. "Well, it sure it pretty here." Tempo observed as the others stepped outside as well. "Reminds me that I haven't been camping in a while."

"I've done nothing BUT camp for most of the last few years." Lion groaned. "Trust me, you start to miss having a bed pretty quick." Before anyone could respond to this, they became aware of a rapid thumping sound. It was quiet, sounding like it came from way off in the distance, but it seemed to be growing louder by the second. "What is that?" Lion wondered what they were all thinking.

"Thunder?" Silva ventured a guess as she looked up at the sky.

"No, the beat is too regular." Tempo observed. Soon enough, the thumping could be felt through the ground as well as heard. Tempo guessed that it was four beats per second, or at least pretty close. As it continued to get louder, he also realized that it was coming from two different sources that were nearly synced up, but not completely. "We should probably hide." He realized out loud. The words were barely out of his mouth when the thumping stopped.

"Do you see anything?" Silva asked as she looked back and forth.

"No..." Tempo caught a whiff of a faint, but unpleasant odor. If he had to pick a specific scent to describe it, he would have said it smelled like rotting meat.

"What's that smell?" Schala asked, and Tempo was glad she had the sense to ask very quietly.

"I don't see anything on this side of the ship." Tempo said, also quietly. "But I have a feeling we're not going to like what's on the other side." He beckoned with his left hand, and they all started to walk around the rear of the Skyshroud Ranger, making as little noise as possible. As Tempo had guessed, it was already too late to try to be stealthy. Standing at the edge of the forest on the opposite side of the ship were two enormous dinosaurs that everyone but Schala immediately recognized as members of the species Tyrannosaurus Rex.

As the humans came into view, the two tyrannosaurs raised their heads a bit. They sniffed the air, and the two fingers on their relatively tiny arms began twitching. Then they lowered their heads close to the ground and let out an earth shaking roar. Tempo knew it was going to be loud, but he was unprepared for HOW loud. His vision actually blurred at the force of the sound, and he imagined standing right next to a jet engine would probably be more peaceful. As soon as the roar stopped, the towering carnivores charged forward, looking surprisingly agile for such large animals.

"Stay calm everyone." Lion spoke slightly louder than normal, thanks to the ringing in his ears. "We're stronger than they are, though we'll probably have to prove it before they back off." Lion quickly began to glow bright yellow.

A second later, green flames sprang up around Tempo. "Just stay out of harm's way, ladies. We'll handle this." He spoke calmly as the tyrannosaur on the left closed to within striking distance, bringing its head down and snapping its jaws shut where Tempo was. Ten feet to the right, the other tyrannosaur did the same to Lion. Two different things happened.

The rex attacking Tempo blinked its eyes several times in confusion, clearly not understanding how Tempo had gone from between its jaws to end up standing on top of its nose.

The rex attacking Lion was gnawing on him, but nothing was happening. It was as if Lion was a solid metal statue embedded in the ground.

"Don't hurt them more than you have to." Tempo called to Lion as his rex started to swing its head from side to side. "However fierce they are, they're not monsters."

"Yeah, just really, really huge carnivores. That's very comforting." Lion responded as he wrinkled his nose. Up close, the tyrannosaur's breath was quite possibly its most potent weapon. The yellow glow coming from Lion quickly increased in intensity, and the rex attacking him backed off, sniffing the air in confusion.

Tempo's rex was clearly gearing up to try to shake him off. Not waiting to give it the chance, Tempo gave the dinosaur a hard punch right between the eyes. He hoped it would be hard enough to convince the rex to back off, or knock it out, but not hard enough to kill it. Instead of collapsing, the dinosaur jerked its head up quickly, and Tempo went flying into the air. Rather than waiting to see what the rex had planned when he came back down, Tempo simply hovered high above it. "Whew, you're tougher than I thought!" He called down to the dinosaur.

Meanwhile, Lion aimed a small ball of energy at the torso of his rex. It was easily enough to kill a human, but he guessed that against an animal this large, with this much muscle tissue, it wouldn't do much more than scorch the skin. Instead of impacting and exploding however, the yellow ball of energy seemed to dissipate into dozens of smaller orbs that quickly disappeared. Energy glowed on the surface of the tyrannosaur's skin where the orb had hit for a second, then it disappeared as well. "What the hell?" Lion frowned in puzzlement.

Simultaneously, both tyrannosaurs began to move their forearms and the two fingers on them in a purposeful manner. Tempo wasn't sure why at first, but he was convinced that they weren't just waving their arms in frustration. Then Tempo remembered that he had occasionally seen Schala making hand gestures while casting magic spells. She probably did it all the time, he was just usually preoccupied with other things while they were in battle. The question of HOW a tyrannosaur could possibly use magic wasn't important at the moment. All that mattered was that Tempo was sure they were going to do it. "Lion, get ready to dodge!" He shouted toward the ground.

The tyrannosaurs finished their arm gestures, then both pointed their snouts at their respective targets, their mouths hanging slightly open. In front of each, a large, molten rock appeared, easily the size of a car. Each fiery boulder rocketed toward its target at a surprising speed. Tempo quickly flew to one side, but the meteor, or whatever it was, curled around and flew back toward him. Lion waited until his was almost on top of him, then jumped above it faster than a human should have been able to move. The meteor crashed into the ground and exploded before it could start to change direction.

Tempo tried a couple changes of direction, but the meteor stayed right on him, growing closer by the second. "Fine then! MegaShield!" The polygonal shield spell quickly encased him, and the meteor shattered against the shield as if it was a clump of dirt. From where he now hovered to the left side of his tyrannosaur, Tempo had a perfect view of the back of the one that was attacking Lion. A glowing blue stone, about the size of a bowling ball, was attached to the back of the rex's skull by some sort of golden support structure. Tempo was sure that was responsible for the dinosaurs' magical abilities.

An instant later, Tempo was nearly blinded as Lion unleashed two huge beams of solar energy at his rex. They combined into one monstrous stream of energy right before they hit. However, Tempo could see that they were having no more effect than a stream of water would. The tyrannosaur staggered back a bit, as if it was wading through a raging river, but it was otherwise unharmed. Just as Lion cut off his flow of energy, another meteor crashed into Tempo's shield, and he turned back to glare at his rex.

"All right big guy, if that's the way you want to play it, have some of this!" Tempo stretched his arms out in front of him, and his palms began to glow a brighter green than the rest of him. "Thousand Point Blast!" The rest of the clearing momentarily fell silent as everyone, including the other tyrannosaur, watched hundreds of bright green fireballs burst out from Tempo, then race toward his rex. Just before the first fireballs hit, a spherical energy shield burst into being around the tyrannosaur. It disappeared behind the light and debris of hundreds of explosions, but when the dust cleared, the rex remained right where it had been, an electrical kind of hum coming from its shield. "Sheesh, this could go on for a while." Tempo observed as he wiped some sweat from his forehead.

The tyrannosaur's magical shield faded back into the aether from which it had come, and the second it did, several bolts of lightning lanced down from the sky at the rex. Unfortunately, the tyrannosaur's shield reappeared even faster than the lightning struck. The dinosaur realized that Schala was responsible for the lightning even before Tempo did, and it turned to glare in her direction, a low growl escaping from its throat. The other rex turned away from Lion to glare at Schala as well. They barely held still for a second before they both charged at her.

"Oh no you don't!" Tempo and Lion shouted at the same time. Lion darted in front of his rex, planted his feet for a split second, then launched into a jumping uppercut aimed at the huge carnivore's chin. The tyrannosaur jerked its head to the side, then spun around and smacked Lion with its tail as he started to come back down. Lion was bounced into the ground, where the rex promptly stomped on him as hard as it could. Lion's chi was sufficiently powerful to keep him from being hurt by any of this, but he couldn't help blinking his eyes in stunned disbelief for a second, which was all the time his rex needed.

Meanwhile, Tempo had raced through the air at his rex, not pulling his punch this time. He hit the tyrannosaur at the base of the neck as hard as he could. The rex noisily crashed to the ground, bellowing in surprise more than pain, but it was back on its feet a second later. Tempo saw that Schala and Silva were running away as fast as their legs could carry them, so he wasn't real concerned about stopping the tyrannosaur where it was. Instead, he started charging up for an even more powerful magical attack than before, hoping to blast through the dinosaur's shield with brute force.

Everyone realized too late that Schala wasn't the tyrannosaurs' target after all. They were after the Skyshroud Ranger. As he closed in, Tempo's rex leapt amazingly high into the air for such a heavy animal, then crashed down onto and through the roof of the ship. Even as he started stomping toward the controls at the front of the ship, Lion's rex darted in and starting chomping on the nearest engine, which didn't stand up to this treatment nearly as well as Lion himself had. Its foot crashed through the rear gate a moment later. Tempo, full to the brim of power which now wouldn't do much good, felt like an idiot.

Lion calmly stood up, dusted himself off, and walked right up to the rexes that were gleefully stomping and gnawing on the remains of his ship. "Well, I hope you two are proud of yourselves." The tyrannosaurs both turned to look at him in puzzlement. Lion wasn't sure if they could understand what he was saying or not, but they seemed to recognize from his tone of voice that he still wasn't afraid of them, which confused them. "Because now I'm mad."

.

"You hear that? That's an impact tremor is what it is. I'm fairly alarmed here." - Ian Malcolm, _Jurassic Park (movie)_

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(Nanaki's note: So, it's good to be back. I didn't mean to take another multi-year break from this story, (I never do, in fact.) but some big things have been happening in my life. The main thing is, I fell in love. Being something of a know-it-all type, I thought I knew what love was before this relationship, but I most definitely did not. At any rate, just as I had trouble getting any writing done for the first couple years after I started working full time, it took my brain some time to adjust to the idea that I can be in love AND still get some writing done now and then. But enough about me, let's talk about the story.

Since I last updated, this story has received a few lengthy and insightful reviews. This time around, I want to address a few of the points from a review submitted last year, by Kasienda. I'm not going to reprint the whole thing here, because you can all just go click on the reviews to read it anyway. First off, I want to say that her review probably would have made me mad when I was seventeen, but now, I think it's spot on. She's absolutely right that when the story made the transition from Mount Woe into Tempo Trigger, it stopped being character driven. It was supposed to be plot driven instead, but since almost all of the main plot points were being kept secret at first, it wasn't driven by plot either. Basically, people were supposed to be into the story just because I was the one writing it. Believe it or not, on Icy's site in 1998, that was reason enough.

Here's one item I want to address: "My favorite character is Lionello! He starts out snarky and scoundrelish. And then you give him a well developed back story with emotion. He seems like a real person. (Tempo in comparison only has very superficial relationships with his friends)" First off, I'm glad you like Lion. Though I did cheat a bit with him in that he's based more on me than any of the other characters are. In regards to Tempo, it's true that he only interacts with his friends on a very shallow level, but that's true to life given the time period he's from. That's how high school guys act. Or at least, that's how high school guys in Oregon acted in the late '90s. I haven't seen anything that indicates high schoolers have grown any more mature or thoughtful since then. I don't mean to sound like I'm mad about that criticism; it's completely accurate. I'm just saying, there's a reason for it.

Second: "I do think Tess forgave Lion a little too easily. Because even if she understands and trusts that he loves her - the pain and anger she feels at and because of him is not just going to vanish. Intentions don't matter nearly as much as your actual deeds. She needs some time I think. Although - I do suppose two years went by during all of this. So her forgiving him should happen somewhere in the middle of those two years rather than right at the beginning of those two years." True enough. That's basically how I imagine it, actually. Note that after the scene in the stairwell, Lion skips over a year and a half of what happened next. In my mind, I didn't picture them getting romantic right away, but she was at least willing to talk to Lion again, which was the main thing. She had made up her mind to give him a chance, not magically forgive everything right on the spot.

Finally: "I loved the dream chapter where Levasos (how do you pronounce that? I can't - I've tried) has private conversations with them all." Those chapters actually turned out better than I expected when I started them, particularly chapter 53. As to how to pronounce Levasos, it's pretty much like you'd expect. It was one of my lazier names, actually. I just took "Lavos", nudged each vowel over one syllable, then put an E in the beginning and another S on the end. It's not like a Gundam name that's pronounced way different from how it's spelled. Looking in your direction here, Quatre Raberba Winner. At any rate, I'm glad you enjoyed the story despite its flaws. Who knows when I'll have the next chapter done, but hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later. My Star Wars story is nibbling at my brain too, so I'm not sure which one will be updated next. Right now, I better sign off before my notes become longer than the actual text in this chapter. So long for now.)


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